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

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. The Prime Minister said that there will be no carbon tax on petrol under the government she leads, because people in outer suburban areas have no choice other than to use petrol. Given evidence that, irrespective of a carbon tax, the main electricity generator in Western Australia, Verve Energy, will not have any choice but to use more coal to generate all the necessary electricity to ensure Western Australia's energy security, can the minister explain why the government would impose a carbon tax on electricity generation when all it does is push up the cost of electricity without doing anything to reduce global emissions?