Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak to the matter of public importance proposed by Senator Fifield for discussion by the Senate:

The Gillard government's continued determination to impose a carbon tax and put Australians under further cost of living pressures.

The government's push to put a price on carbon on the basis that it would help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions is a very expensive hoax. This government has previously sought to mislead the Australian people and has previously sought to take advantage of the Australian people's goodwill towards the environment by trying to impose another cost, which will push up the cost of living.

This is a government which, in the lead-up to the 2007 election, supposedly was committed to doing things to address cost-of-living pressures. Ever since, the cost of living has gone up, up and up. We had the GroceryWatch fiasco and the Fuelwatch fiasco from this government. None of that worked. None of that was thought through. Australian families are dealing with very significant cost-of-living pressures, in particular because of the financial misman­agement of this government. The truth of the matter is that a carbon tax in Australia, in the absence of an appropriately comprehensive global agreement on price emissions, includ­ing for trading competitors in other parts of the world, would push up the cost of every­thing. It would make us less competitive internationally—so it would cost jobs—and all of that without helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

In effect, the government is proposing to make overseas polluters more competitive than even the most environmentally efficient equivalent business in Australia. This is why it is a hoax. This is why the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation was defeated in the Senate. Not only did the coalition vote against it, the Greens also voted against it, Senator Xenophon voted against it and Senator Fielding, as he then was, voted against it. Only the Australian Labor Party voted to push up the cost of everything to make us less competitive internationally, to put jobs at risk, to put our energy security at risk—and all of that without helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Minister for Finance and Deregu­lation, Senator Wong, today outrageously misled the Senate. I asked Senator Wong today why the government was proposing to exempt petrol but not electricity from the carbon tax. Electricity is a very important service for families and businesses across Australia and is responsible for significantly increasing cost-of-living pressures. The minister dishonestly read out a quote which she pretended was a quote from a speech that I had supposedly given to the Senate. The minister lied to this chamber. The minister misled the chamber.