Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Senator Wong. I refer the minister to comments made by the Prime Minister this morning:

We believe we can take traditional industries like manufacturing with us, giving them the benefit of the clean energy future which will require things to be manufactured …

I also refer the minister to the economic modelling of the carbon tax undertaken by the Queensland Treasury and released this morning by the Queensland Labor Treasurer, which shows that by 2050 the government's Clean Energy Future package will reduce the output of Australia's aluminium industry by 50 per cent, of its alumina industry by 39.6 per cent, of its iron and steel industry by 22.4 per cent and of its cement industry by 5.7 per cent compared with what they otherwise would be. Does the minister agree with the Queensland Labor Treasury analysis, which shows that a carbon tax will exacerbate an already difficult economic situation facing Australia's manufacturing industry, as so ably seen in the last few days with the steel industry?