Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, you are much in demand! It is, of course, that unholy alliance that we see on the other side of the chamber that brings us to this matter today:

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

The story of the carbon tax is really one of deceit, political incompetence, administrative incompetence, policy incompetence and a desire to avoid scrutiny. I think it is important that we start with deceit. It has almost become a cliche, but that does not take away from the outrageous nature of the statement of Julia Gillard before the last election, declaring—and let us say it again: 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' There were no ifs, there were no buts, there were no qualifications; it was meant to be taken as a statement of fact. I wonder how many Australians would have voted for the Australian Labor Party—