Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

It is indeed—and a decision that left senior Labor figures shaking their heads at the lack of cabinet consultation. Of course, there was no cabinet consultation in relation to this matter. We now know full well that there was no cabinet consultation in relation to the carbon tax. So Labor got rid of one Prime Minister because he refused to engage cabinet or the backbench and they have now replaced Kevin Rudd with another Prime Minister, who also refuses to consult. So what was it all about? The micromanager Kevin Rudd has been replaced by the micromanager Julia Gillard. I suppose the big difference between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard is that he did not form this unholy alliance with Senator Bob Brown and the other Greens. That is the big difference between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

Even Kristina Keneally, the Premier of New South Wales—for about another three weeks!—expressed concern about the impact of this tax. Can we please, during the rest of this debate and during the summing-up, refer to this as a flood tax? The use of this word ‘levy’ is totally inappropriate; it is a flood tax.