Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Scrutiny is not equivocation. The Labor Party is absolutely committed to opposing the repeal of the ETS package of legislation and that is the exact reason why we need proper scrutiny of each of the elements of legislation that the Abbott government is seeking to repeal. I am personally fairly gobsmacked and appalled at the idea that the Greens would be voting with the Abbott government on this question, because taking the preachy high moral ground on this question is not the path to continuing the journey that we need to be on with the Australian people to convince them about the legitimacy of and need for a trading scheme in this country. I fear the Greens are playing absolutely into the Abbott government's hands. This country is at an important crossroads and this parliament is at an important crossroads. The Senate takes seriously its responsibility for due diligence and to scrutinise this legislation.

I will be a member of the environment committee and the economics committee. Both committees have dealt with these kinds of inquiries in the past and I can tell you that repeal is not a simple matter. It might look simple on the page but the substantive questions of each element of legislation are important. Therefore, a reporting date in December is simply not adequate for the task. I very much support Senator Wong in moving for a March 2014 reporting date because I know the significance of the integrity of this legislation that is being repealed. It is a complete suite of legislation that needs to be compared and contrasted with the coalition'sDirect Actionpolicy.

This parliament is at a crossroads where we can live up to our responsibilities to the next generation and to this parliament to do our jobs properly or turn down the wrong path and abandon the next generation and the jobs and economy that our nation needs. I know that the Abbott government wants to take us down the wrong path and I am appalled at the idea that the Australian Greens would be facilitating that. We are creating not just an environmental burden with the impact of global emissions on our climate but also a burden on our economy. If we go down the path that the Abbott government is outlining, the economy will not have done enough to modernise and adapt to the economic change that must come hand in hand with the environmental one. That is why it is critically important that, at the same time we consider Direct Action, we also consider what is at stake in terms of what we are repealing. This is not a job that has been done by this parliament before in terms of looking at the suite of those packages together. So this parliament, this Senate and its committees, has a serious responsibility to look at this question carefully. It is the role of this place to investigate, debate, deliberate and ensure that the actions of this parliament are in the best interests of our people and the nation that we serve. We need an inquiry that gives us the time to systematically address the issues of climate change and the best tools that we need to address it. This includes the impact of the carbon tax repeal bills and of the Direct Action policy.