Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not. The fantasist side is your side. You tried to recreate history on a number of occasions; you tried to rewrite history on a number of occasions. You almost live in an alternative world, a second life world where the opposition people belong.

Senator Troeth mentioned the issue of internationalism in regard to carbon pricing. Scores of countries have already started the transformation to a low-pollution economy, so for Senator Troeth to stand up and speak as she did earlier is misleading. There are 32 countries and 10 US states that already have emissions trading schemes in operation. Others, including China, Taiwan, Chile and South Korea and a number of Canadian provinces, are either considering developing their own or already have trial emissions trading schemes in place. Carbon taxation is in place in the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. It is also in Canada, China and India. So, for those on the other side to stand up and purport that it is not an international issue, or that Australia is going it alone, is completely untrue. It is misleading the public and that is inappropriate.

The opposition exaggerate on a number of issues. One was the exaggeration on the number of people that were allegedly on the front lawns today. My sources told me that there was nowhere near the number as purported by the other side. We know they are climate change deniers and we know that they base their arguments on fear and on trying to scare the Australian people. When the Australian people understand what the direct action plan from those on the other side is, they will not think that is appropriate either. But it is appropriate to get the big polluters to pay. That is the appropriate way to go. In regard to jobs and manufacturing it is the right thing to do for the economy. As I said earlier, when we have a fixed price, it will give some certainty to businesses to be able to determine what they do.

The other thing I must mention, of course, is the Leader of the Opposition’s many views. As the last count I did he had eight— (Time expired)