John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Senator Wong. Minister, given the Gillard Labor government said agriculture would be excluded from the carbon tax, I refer the minister to a report released yesterday by business analysts IBISWorld, which finds that the carbon tax is set to increase the cost to Australian farmers by $3.7 billion. IBIS concludes that intense global competition among food manufacturers will make it difficult for our farmers to pass their rising production costs on to consumers. Given our farmers already face an unlevel playing field due to the huge subsidies and tariffs granted by overseas governments to their farmers, why is the government making it even harder for Australian farmers by introducing the world's biggest carbon tax?