David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Hansard source

I do not intend to support this motion. The government has a budget problem; Australia has a budget problem. Spending $2.5 billion to pay people to plant trees or collect energy from pig manure is not good use of money when there are so many things that need to be funded. There is no evidence that the plan will do anything to reduce carbon dioxide emissions or Australia's contribution to climate change, and there is no urgency associated with this legislation, except for the risk that Mr Palmer might change his mind by the time we come back into the next session. I know from my private conversations that there are very few senators on the government side who actually support this legislation. There is nothing urgent about it. It does not need to be jammed through today.