Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not going to get into that dispute because I do not think it matters one iota. What matters is this: if you are going to have a carbon tax, then you had better make sure India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh and all those other countries go along with you, because, if they do not, it is no more than a simple gesture. I do not want to get into the science. You do not have to get there but, if you want to convince me that a carbon tax will work, firstly, go and tell the people in Indonesia: 'I know you're only on a couple of rupiahs a day, but I know you'll carry the load, because it's good for the earth. We'll put a tax on your heating and we'll put a tax on your lighting.' They will say, 'But we don't have any lighting. Yes, we do have heating. We're very lucky; we have a kerosene heater.' 'Oh well, we'll tax that.' There would be a riot, and so there should be.

If you go to China, what are they doing? We are told that they have got renewable energy. Yes, they have got a bit of renewable energy. Let us see what China have got in the way of renewable energy. Their renewable energy is about six per cent. Solar accounts for 0.2 per cent and wind is about six per cent. Mr Acting Deputy President Sterle, I know you are interested in this, because I have always found you a person to be interested in the working class, the working person. Every two weeks, China is putting in a new one-gigawatt power station

In Australia our total transmission through energy is 50 gigawatts. The energy that is driven out of Australia is 50 gigawatts. China are putting in one gigawatt every two weeks. China have a total capacity of 557,938 megawatts. India has a total capacity of 519,396 megawatts. Of course the brave Greens would say, 'I know it's rough in India, but you have to pull your weight and do a bit of sacrificing.' The people of India say: 'We live in a cardboard carton. What more can we sacrifice? Our kids cannot go to school. Do you want us to sacrifice more? What have we got to sacrifice?' The Greens, never short of an answer, would say: 'The wealthy countries like Australia and America can pay.' That is what the Copenhagen agreement started out to say.

I have never seen things so bad in Australia. On Sunday a friend of mine put a job ad on the website for an accounts clerk. By Sunday afternoon he had 100 people applying for the job and yesterday there were 200 people. He employed a solicitor to do a clerk's job and she was so grateful. It is a killing field out there. We do not realise that in here, because we are well paid and our kids are well looked after. But out there it is a battle. I am frightened for my grandchildren. We cannot afford to do this. We have got to pass this legislation.

While you are procrastinating, jobs are going and companies are closing. Holden is withdrawing. Then you have $100 million for the airline and $27 million for Virgin. Out of $250 million, $100 million is not going to rock the financial boat, but $100 million is a lot of jobs. You can employ a lot of people for $100 million.

The Labor Party are trying to defend 33 per cent of the votes. Thirty-three per cent is never going to get them into government. They have to sell their wares to the tradies, the people who work in factories and the people who have not got jobs. They are not doing it and they are going to be over there for the next 100 years if they do not break away from the Greens and defend their old position for the traditional blue-collar workers. If they do that, they will be some competition. If they do not, they are going to be over that side for the next 20 years.