Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Thirty-three hours and 52 minutes of debate, plus that which has occurred this week, has already taken place on these measures. Fifty-two bills were guillotined in this place without a single syllable spoken, courtesy of Senator Wong and the Greens—let's keep that in mind. The urgency of this is that the markets need to react to the decision of the Senate in relation to the carbon tax. Given that the Labor-Greens carbon tax, which we were promised would not be introduced, ticked over again on 1 July with another rate increase, power companies need to know whether or not to charge the extra tax imposed by Labor. The urgency of this is so that we can do the will of the Australian people and remove this toxic tax, which is a burden on the cost of living and which has been destroying jobs without doing anything for the environment.