Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

First, I do not accept the proposition in the question. I would again remind the opposition that the Treasury modelling shows that we can continue to grow the number of jobs in this country with the carbon price. The assumption in the question that the carbon price will somehow mean the end of various industries is really a reiteration of the scare campaign that Mr Abbott has been engaged in—which ranged from the carbon price being the death of the coal industry and the death of the mining sector to the town of Whyalla being wiped off the face of the Earth. I anticipate that Whyalla will still be there after 1 July. I would point the opposition to not only the increased investment in coal and mining but also the shares that some of their colleagues have invested in since the carbon price became legislation—because it flies in the face of the scare campaign. (Time expired)