Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

So the minister is not going to answer questions—is that what is going to happen in this committee stage of the debate, Chair, because it is a perfectly reasonable question to ask a minister to explain forgone revenue? We now have a minister sitting there refusing to answer the question on the same day we have a Treasurer standing up saying that we have got a budget repair job to be done and out there refusing to answer questions as to how much money is going back into the pockets of the big miners.

I am going to ask again and keep asking until you give us an answer. I want to know not only about the fuel tax credits going back to the big miners—every cent of excise, 6c a litre, over the forward estimates to every big miner turns into billions. We have a figure from the Parliamentary Budget Office. I want to know what the government's figure is. How much cost-shifting are you doing out of the taxpayer into the big miners? That is one thing I think the community deserves an answer to. I also asked about the financial benefit that will accrue to mining companies and coal-seam gas companies through no longer having to pay for fugitive emissions that are driving climate change. Please, I would like an answer.