Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection, Senator Edwards. I do get out as often as I can. I am sorry that I probably do not get out as much as you but I do try. The reality is that people believe something is in this climate change argument. I do not meet people who are saying that the carbon tax has crucified them. They get on with business and they get on with their working lives. You cannot change behaviour in a proper functioning economy without pricing behaviour. If you are going to pay people who already have bad behaviour to do it slowly, I am not sure that that is a workable philosophy. Most economists who would not take the carbon price out of it would probably agree with me that the things that have worked with economies over history is a price on behaviour and that that price will dictate business investment decisions and their activity in the economy and more than likely will change their behaviour for the better.