Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The government never claimed that the carbon price was designed to address issues of housing affordability in this country. Nor is it credible for the opposition to attempt to say every issue in Australian society or every issue that exists in the economy is a result of the introduction of a carbon price. Earlier this week we had Senator Brandis saying that digitalisation and the impact that that is having on the newspaper industry was not the driving factor behind the changes at Fairfax; it was in fact the fear of the introduction of a carbon price. Now, apparently, it is housing affordability! Where on earth does the opposition gets its economic analysis from? You have painted yourself into a corner. You know you will never remove the price on carbon. You know you will have an embarrassing backflip at some stage in the future and you ought to get real. (Time expired)