Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

What we are seeing this afternoon from the Labor Party—and it was quite a tragic performance from the last speaker, I have to say—is regional Australia being represented by speakers from the Labor heartland on this matter of public importance debate on the impact on regional Australia of Labor's carbon tax. They have sent in speakers in from Labor's heartland, senators who have their offices in Sydney, in Springwood, in the CBD of Sydney and in North Melbourne—the heartland of regional Australia! The old adage comes straight to the fore: do not listen to what the government say; look at what they do. The description of the Carbon Farming Initiative that was given by Senator Thistlethwaite a moment ago just staggers me. He was obviously sent in here to do a job. I understand that. That is the role that the government senators have been given—they are sent in to defend the government's position. But at least have some understanding of what you are talking about.

I spent two days at the Burnie Show just a week ago talking to farmers. They were lining up to talk to me as we were setting our stand up, telling us what the impact was going to be on them and their farms, particularly the dairy farms. They know that the government's carbon tax is going to cost them on average $10,000 per dairy farm in direct costs and another $10,000 in costs back from the processor. The processing sector for food in this country—Australia's largest manufacturing sector—is severely hit by the carbon tax, and they know that the costs will be passed back to them, because that is what happens. So they are not fooled by all this rhetoric that is run out by the Labor Party in relation to the carbon tax.

Senator Williams talked about polling that he conducted in a couple of seats in New South Wales. There was some polling released in Tasmania on the Friday before last—in Burnie, just outside the show. That showed that 62 per cent of Tasmanians polled were either opposed to or unsure about the carbon tax—51 per cent of them directly opposed it and 11 per cent were unsure about it. The best that the government could do was 17 per cent—