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

I gather the senator's question seeks to criticise the government and the Prime Minister for responding to community concerns. I do not know where he has been. He certainly has not been in Western Australia, where the Barnett government are getting hammered about the increases in electricity prices. I think you will find the Premier would accept that assertion. It is the case that we have been aware for some time of the growing community concern. It is why when we introduced a price on carbon we made sure that there was assistance that more than covered the cost of the increase, because we knew that people were finding it tough to deal with those costs. The Prime Minister is articulating the concern abroad in the community and we know that that is not driven by the carbon price; it is driven by other elements and addressing those is an important national public policy issue. (Time expired)