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

There is so much wrong with the assertions underpinning the questions that have been put by Senator Milne that it is very hard to come up with a sensible answer. But let me attempt to provide a sensible answer to what is not a very sensible question, and that is: we are pursuing a policy which seeks to reduce emissions in a way that is economically responsible—that does not detract from economic growth opportunities in the future; that does not hurt the Australian economy for no purpose. We are seeking to reduce emissions by competitively tendering the lowest-cost opportunity to achieve the highest-impact emissions reduction through a proper, competitive, market based system. Unlike the previous government, which does not understand about markets, and unlike the previous Labor-Greens government, which thinks that introducing a new tax is somehow a market-based mechanism, on this side of the chamber we understand that you do not wilfully hurt your economy, you do not wilfully impose— (Time expired)