Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw. However you like to dress it up, the Prime Minister said, 'There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.' Four days later she repeated it. You cannot get any other interpretation from that. It is so straightforward that it does not lend itself to any interpretation other than that there will be no carbon tax. Then we are going to have 150 of the best and brightest turn up to a citizens assembly to make the decision. That was laughed out of court. Who was going to be in the 150?

There was a very strong story going around—it was not a rumour; it was a story—and it was actually told by Kevin Rudd. Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan told him to drop this carbon tax like a hot cake. What did he do? He listened to their and advice and dropped it like a hot cake, only to be garrotted, emasculated by the fact that he dropped the carbon tax when he was told to by the now Prime Minister and the now Deputy Prime Minister. No wonder he is bitter and twisted. No wonder he is hurt. No wonder the people of Queensland think that he was done over—and he was. He did exactly what he was told to do and then got garrotted for it.

The government told the people there would be no carbon tax. I actually believe that that is what they meant until the Greens told them: 'Hang on, if you want our support you will have a carbon tax whether you like it or not, whether 72 per cent of the people like it or not. Seventy-two per cent don't like it, 28 per cent do, but that doesn't matter. We're the Greens and we're telling you what to do. All we want is 10 per cent of that vote.' You are bleeding to the Greens to the left and you are bleeding to the blue-collar workers to the right. You waffle on and you cannot make a decision. I have been down this track myself with Pauline Hanson and there is one way to do it: you go in and say, 'We are the government and we will try and assist you when you don't hurt our followers.'

When you do that you will be the Labor Party that stands up for something, but until you do that your vote will just be whittled away, as it is now. Twenty-seven per cent. Has anyone seen the Labor vote down at 27 per cent? It has never gone down that far, never been there, ever. And of course it will go there. People know who runs this government: it is Bob Brown. If you are for the Bob Brown line of thought you vote Green. If you are against the Bob Brown line of thought you vote for the coalition. That is why your vote is being whittled away and whittled away. Do you want to do something about it? I believe Tony Abbott gave you a way out today.