Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The first thing to point out here is that this censure motion is based on a falsity. The motion moved by Senator Brandis, presumably on the run, says:

That this Senate censure the Government for its gross deception of the Australian people by introducing a carbon tax …

The reality is—and one must be exact in important motions, not least in a censure motion of the government—that motions should be correct, precise and describe matters as they are. There has been no carbon tax introduced to this parliament and the government has introduced no tax. Certainly it is a matter that is under consideration, but the motion put forward by Senator Brandis would not pass a test in debating procedure at high school level. The opposition should do better on an important motion like this.

This morning the opposition and its leader, Mr Abbott, made the decision to repeal legislation for a carbon price if it is introduced later this year, on the presumption that it would pass the parliament. It was a big decision by a leader and an opposition to say that, if this parliament passes legislation to tackle climate change, a future Abbott government would move to repeal it. One only has to know about the business community’s concern that there at last be some surety brought into business and into investment through the establishment of a carbon price to know that that decision has much more to do with politics than it has to do with economic certainty or economic probity as far as this nation is concerned.