Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, but this only became public knowledge today, and I have been seeking a convenient time, Senator Pratt, to ask about this. So all I will say to the minister is that the household assistance to which she has referred was based on the original modelling. If this modelling was correct then clearly there will be a shortfall for the households.

I also refer to something that I only became aware of this morning, and that is that on Inside Business yesterday Michael Hitchens, from the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, made some comments and predictions as well—and there was no earlier time to refer to his comments other than today. He believes that the government, in assuming a price of $26 for each carbon emission permit, may well be wrong. He believes it will be more like $35 to $40. Now either the government agrees with Mr Hitchens or they do not. If they disagree with Mr Hitchens, can they please tell us not that they have done earlier modelling but why this literally hot-off-the-press information is wrong? Could they also give us all the calculations as to why his assertions are wrong? Because clearly, if there is going to be in rough terms an extra $10 cost for each carbon emission permit, the impact on the economy must of necessity be considerably greater.

Mr Hitchens also made the observation about these matters being quite ‘sensitive’, to use his word, because the Treasury estimates of revenue were based essentially on the Australian dollar staying at 90c to the US dollar over the next 10 years or so. But, if that falls—and for every 1c it might fall it is over $1 billion of revenue to the Treasury—and if we get back to what is considered to be sort of a long-term rate with the American dollar, which is around 80c, then the Treasury is looking at a shortfall of about $12 billion. This is just hot off the press. It was reported yesterday. Today is the first opportunity to raise it in the chamber, and I have given way to other senators for other particular debates and amendments in this place. But these are fundamentally important issues that the government really do have to answer to the Australian people for. They may have perfectly good explanations. If they do, that is great.

The other lot of general questions that I was hoping to be able to raise—and I will raise them now as well in this contribution because otherwise I fear I may well continue to be interrupted—is whether the government has undertaken any analysis of the East Anglia Climate Research Unit—