David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I greatly enjoyed some of the contributions this afternoon but less so some of the others. The coalition senators made thoughtful, considered contributions, where they actually examined and considered the issues related to the questions that were asked during question time of Minister Wong, the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. However, as usual, the government senators reverted to their typical approach of obfuscation and diversion from the facts and the real issues, which are the failings of the government's plan to introduce a carbon tax and the fact that it simply will not work in delivering the environmental outcomes that they say it will.

Senator Farrell also noted that there were 90 countries taking action, although he seemed a bit confused at the time—it might have been 90 per cent of emissions or 90 countries. The fact is that none of those 90 countries are taking any action in terms of putting a price on carbon that goes anywhere near being as broad or as deep as what we are doing in this country. No nationwide carbon tax or carbon-pricing schemes have been introduced in any of the 90 countries. I recall that Minister Wong used the term 'a shadow price' on carbon for what she was talking about. The reality is that the vast majority of those countries taking action on carbon are doing the very sorts of things the coalition is proposing to do in its direct action plan: taking action that puts what Senator Wong herself called a shadow price on carbon by using measures that are not a blatant and overt tax on carbon or an emissions trading scheme. So I think the government argument in pointing out these 90 countries is a little disingenuous because all it does is prove that alternatives like what the coalition is proposing in its direct action plan are actually being employed elsewhere and are actually acknowledged by the government as being a legitimate way of addressing the issue.

Senator Singh mentioned that Senator Wong had provided numerous responses to questions. I think she carefully used the word 'responses' because, quite clearly, Senator Wong does not actually provide answers to questions and 'responses' is a very clever way of saying that. Of course Senator Singh has a lot to hide when it comes to this issue because she is a classic example of someone who would not be in this place were it not for the carbon tax promise followed by the backflip later on which proved it to have been a mistruth. Speaking as a senator from Tasmania, as is Senator Singh, I can say there is no way that the Labor Party would have won that third Senate spot in Tasmania—