John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection. I have spent most of my life on the land and I know that the most valuable asset in this country is our soil. That is what grows our food; that is what feeds our nation and many people around the world as well. But the government wants to tax those people out of existence. Look after your land—if you have healthy soil you will grow healthy food and have healthy people. It is as simple as that. If there is a lack of nutrition in the soil, how do you expect to have nutrition in your food? That is why the land is the most important issue here. Those in government seem to have little or no concern for the land.

I suggest that Senator Singh go and have a look at a map of Australia. Probably 50 per cent of this nation is in the hands of farmers and graziers. How can they be green when so many of them are so far in the red? Have a look at what the government did to the beef industry in recent times—the way they devastated the top end of Australia with the outrageous full suspension of beef exports. How do those people look after their properties when they do not have income? That is what this government is about—the destruction of the people who feed our nation and their asset. That is why it is most important that we look after those on the land, because they are the caretakers of the greatest asset this nation has. We need to look after it for future generations. That is why so many on the land have endorsed programs such as Landcare and have looked after the environment through extremely tough times, especially with the drought from 2002 through to 2010.

This is a tax we were never going to have under a government led by Julia Gillard. The people of Australia were deceitfully cheated prior to the last election. Of the 150 members of parliament in the other house, at least 145 went to the election not supporting a carbon tax. The government is now trying to spin its way out of why it has to do this. But don't be concerned—you have the Communist Party behind you as well. That will be of great assurance to the Australian people. This is what we are facing in the future. I was very pleased to hear Tony Abbott make it quite clear that if we are elected to government at the next election, this tax will go. If it needs a double dissolution, bring it on—it will go. This tax is bad for our nation, it does nothing for the environment.

Let us look at the Treasury figures that the government is basing its policy on. We are producing 578 million tonnes of CO2 in Australia this year. Come 2020, after $72 billion of tax, we are going to produce 621 million tonnes—we are going to go up 43 million tonnes. But, don't worry, we will use billions of dollars to buy carbon credits from overseas. Just have a look at the fraudulent activities going on in Europe now. This opens up the whole trade around the world to fraud—fraudulent permits that we are going to be suckered into buying. Also be aware, from Treasury figures, that China is currently producing 10.3 billion tonnes of CO2, and by 2020 it will be producing 17.9 billion tonnes. It is going to go up 7,600 million tonnes a year, and this government thinks that our going up by only 43 million tonnes will save the planet. It is an outrage. It is a deceitful tax and we will have a lot more to say about it in the very near future, after 12 October when the legislation find its way to this chamber.