Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Boswell for that question. Let me just say right at the outset: Paul Howes is right. We agree with him on this. If only Paul Howes was the leader of the Labor Party, perhaps we might get some sensible economic policy from the opposition, because now of course we have an opposition that is back to the worst protectionist, interventionist days of past eras.

Cheap energy has traditionally been a core economic advantage for Australia. It is an advantage that, egged on by the Greens, the Labor Party recklessly and irresponsibly threw away. Labor's carbon tax is pushing up the cost of electricity, it is pushing up the cost of gas, it is pushing up the cost of doing business in Australia, it is making us less competitive internationally, it is hurting the economy, it is making it harder for businesses to compete and, of course, it is putting jobs at risk—it is costing jobs. All of this without doing anything to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, what is happening is that Labor's carbon tax is making it harder for Australian businesses to compete with businesses overseas who are taking market share away from us as a result of Labor's carbon tax and are, arguably, shifting emissions, economic activity and jobs overseas. Emissions in those jurisdictions overseas will arguably be higher than they would have been if that activity had happened in Australia. In an absolutely reckless way, Labor imposed an additional burden on our economy at the worst possible time. At a time when we were already facing challenges in a difficult global economic environment, Labor continued to impose more burdens on our economy, putting jobs at risk.