Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to follow Senator Boswell in this debate on the second reading of the Steel Transformation Plan Bill 2011. He makes so many valid arguments about what the government are up to with this bill and about its potential impacts. It is nothing more than a tricky little tactic of the Labor government that they have brought this bill on separately from those which we voted on earlier today. We saw the government put through the parliament earlier today the Clean Energy Bill 2011 and 17 other bills related to the clean energy package. When they wanted to have committee consideration of the legislation, they thought it was perfectly reasonable to send the Steel Transformation Plan Bill off to the same joint select committee that considered the clean energy bills. They lumped them all in as one. They were happy to have the 19 bills considered together. Yet, for purely political purposes, they seek to have this bill considered separately from the other 18 clean energy bills. Why? Because they want to create some type of fake wedge so they can say, 'The opposition voted against support for the steel industry.'

That is what Senator Carr wants to go out there and do, and no doubt that is what he will do. But people will see through it. People will see through it because they will know, well and truly, that the only reason the government has proposed this in this way, in this place, at this time, the only reason the government has put the money on the table, the only reason we are voting on it on the same day as the carbon tax, is the carbon tax. This is all about the carbon tax. If you do not have the carbon tax, you do not need the compensation. That is not to say you do not need plans for the steel industry, Minister Carr; you absolutely need plans for the steel industry. But you have been dragged kicking and screaming into putting together this little piece of legislation to hand over a bit of money all because of the clean energy bills and all because of the carbon tax.