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

A lot less would have voted for the Australian Labor Party if, before the election, Julia Gillard had said, 'There will be a carbon tax under a government I lead.' Because, if they heard those words, they would have been quite justified in thinking: 'Prices are going to go up; cost-of-living pressures will increase.' The result of the election could well have been different.

The Australian people were denied the opportunity at the last election to have a say on this particular policy. On this side of the chamber we have sought to provide a mechanism for the Australian people to have a say. We have proposed a bill for a plebiscite so that the Australian people can have their say. We think that that is an opportunity that the Australian Labor Party should embrace. If they really have the strength of their convictions, if they really believe in their policy, if they really believe in the rightness of their cause, then they should have no hesitation in putting it to the Australian people. In fact, they should relish the opportunity to argue their case in a campaign before a plebiscite to convince the Australian people of the rightness of their cause. But they will not, because they know that the Australian people would reject that plebiscite. It is for the same reason that they failed to come clean with the Australian people at the last election, because they knew that the Australian public would reject the proposal for a carbon tax.

I also referred to political incompetence. It is bad enough that the Australian Labor Party lied to the people at an election, but you would think that they might at least have a political objective in mind. They might be sneaky, they might be tricky, but you might have thought that it was part of some grander political scheme, some grander political tactic to give effect to their policy. Yet, since the announcement of the proposal for a carbon tax we have seen the greatest display of political incompetence which you have to go a very long way back to find the equal of. The government has, time and again, said that this is a major economic reform. It is not. Economic reforms have a number of characteristics. They lighten the burden on business or they lift productivity or they see more people employed. This policy does none of those things, yet the government persists in saying that this is an economic reform and likening it to the introduction of the GST and the new tax system.

When the coalition sought to do real economic reform on the scale of the new tax system, we spent the year making the case for change. Then, after having done that, we then released a complete package accom­panied by 500 fact sheets that pro­vided answers to every question. People might not have liked the answers but at least there were answers. We released cameos for every household type to show the net benefit for every sort of Australian household. This government has not done that basic work. This government has not done—just look at it in terms of pure politics—what is the politically smart thing to do when you are prosecuting a case. When you want to make the case for change, you make the case for what is wrong then you present your solution and then you argue the solution. This government has comprehensively failed to do that.

This has also been an exercise in policy and administrative incompetence. We have heard the government declare—they have leaked out bit by bit, tiny bits of this policy—that petrol will not be subject to a carbon tax, that the carbon tax will not increase the cost of fuel for Australian motorists. But when you ask the government, 'Well, what will be the effect on small business?' they cannot tell you what small businesses might be in, what small businesses will be out. They cannot tell you whether farms will automatically qualify as a small business. They cannot tell you what will be the effect on major transport companies or what will be the effect on major trucking companies. These questions cannot be answered and yet they then have the temerity to accuse the opposition of running a scare campaign. Asking basic questions, asking legitimate questions of detail is not running a scare campaign; it is seeking information on behalf of the Australian public.

The government have declared, 'Trust us. At no stage will there be any effect on the price of petrol.' Very curiously, this government have announced a Productivity Commission inquiry into the taxation of petrol. Mr Acting Deputy President Ludlum, I know this is something that your party sought and I know why your party sought it—or I could hazard a guess. You would only propose a Productivity Commission inquiry into the taxation of petrol if you wanted the taxation of petrol to increase.

I do not believe for a second that this government will honour their commitment that petrol prices will not be affected by a carbon tax. The government lied about imposing a carbon tax in the first place, so why would we believe them on this? Let me be generous for a moment and assume that we can take the government at their word. Why have this Productivity Commission inquiry if the intention is not to increase fuel excise? The question that this government need to answer is: will they guarantee that the current rate of fuel excise will not increase under this current administration?

The government also need to answer the question: will the freeze on the automatic indexation of fuel excise, which the coalition government introduced, continue during the life of this government? The other question that the government have to answer is: will any fuel go up in price as a result of tax increases due to the government's response to the Productivity Commission inquiry? If the government cannot answer to each of those questions no, no and no then we know what the real agenda is. The real agenda of the Australian Labor Party and the Greens will be for petrol to go up in price. It may not be as a direct result of a carbon tax but, as sure as night follows day, the fuel excise will be increased. Automatic indexation: I would not be surprised if that made a comeback.

Australians are worried, genuinely worried, about cost-of-living increases because this government went to the last election declaring there will not be a carbon tax. Guess what? There is going to be a carbon tax. This government have said that petrol prices will not increase as a result of the carbon tax. It might not be because of a carbon tax; it may well be because of an increase in fuel excise. This government need to answer those three questions that I put today. This government stand condemned for their dishonesty. This government stands condemned for its attempts to evade scrutiny.

How curious it is that the government will release, we hope, the complete and final package two or three days after the parliament rises, as we enter the biggest parliamentary break of the year. There is only one reason for that: this government want to avoid scrutiny. The Australian public will see their tactic for what it is. The government should abandon this carbon tax and they should listen to the Australian people.