Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I don't agree with the characterisation of the Prime Minister's remarks by Senator Steele-John. I think the basic proposition that most reasonable people would agree with—those of us who care about future opportunity for young Australians—is that kids should be at school. I don't think that there is anything out of the ordinary in the proposition that kids should be at school in order to prepare them for a successful life in Australia into the future.

The second point I would make, as I have done in the past, is that we are always guided by wanting to ensure that young Australians have the best possible opportunity here in Australia to get ahead in the future, and that is why we want to do the right thing by the environment in a way that is economically responsible, because we, of course, understand that, if we want to ensure that young Australians can get a job and build a career here in Australia, we need to ensure—