Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As I made clear, households are the government’s No. 1 priority. We are about putting a price on carbon so that big polluters pay and big polluters change their behaviour. We are not embarking on this policy path because we want to make it more expensive for households to make ends meet, but we are acknowledging that there will be an impact on prices. As John Howard and others have all recognised, you cannot have a serious debate about this issue without recognising that there will be impacts in the economy. You cannot pretend that that is not the case. We are not only engaging in what is a serious response to changes in our environment but also engaging in major economic reform that will benefit the economy in the long term, right down to the household level. It is important that, in doing that, governments have a focus on assisting those who most need assistance—households, particularly those of low-income earners and pensioners—to make sure that they are receiving that assistance. (Time expired)