George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Evans. I refer the minister to the fact that cost-of-living pressures have never been more severe; the fact that business and consumer confidence is at a 25-year low; the fact that, according to a recent Morgan poll, a record number of Australians, 61 per cent, think the country is heading in the wrong direction; and the fact that unemployment is on the rise and that Australians are feeling less secure in their jobs. I also refer the minister to the IMF's recent assessment in light of the European debt crisis that:

The global economy is in a dangerous new phase.

Can the minister explain why the government believes now is the right time to introduce the world's biggest carbon tax? Won't this only make a bad situation much worse?