Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

The campaign by some in the coalition against international trading has to be one of the most short-sighted and, frankly, xenophobic bits of policy we have seen in this debate in a long time. Those moderates on the other side ought to be ashamed of the way this is being peddled. I would make the point that even members of the Australian Industry Group network said, 'We understand that the cost of abatement might double if we try to achieve the full abatement domestically. You are doubling the cost for Australian business if you seek to achieve the full abatement domestically.' Similar comments were made by the Business Council of Australia. It is extraordinary that the coalition, a party which is supposed to be sensible on the economy, would come in here and say, 'We want to double the cost for Australian business of— (Time expired)