Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take your point. I just can't remember their particular titles. Members in the other place have said that maybe he's changed his mind for another reason. Last year Mr Fitzgibbon stated that Labor needs to reach a sensible settlement on climate change. 'How many times are we going to let it kill us?' he said. 'How many leaders do we want to lose?' he said. It seems that Mr Fitzgibbon has decided which Labor leader should be lost next. Because this Labor leader has no plan to actually deal with the problem that we have—these emissions targets. They're treating the Australian people like mugs. I think that that is absolutely disgraceful. They cannot front up to the Australian people and tell them what it's going to cost and how many jobs it's going to lose, particularly if you're living in regional Australia, where we know that they are facing challenges. They're not prepared to front up and explain to the Australian people what's actually going on.

For example, Labor is at it again with regard to a carbon tax. Labor has been citing the CSIRO report—the Australian National Outlook 2019 report—to support their target with no plan. But what Labor won't tell you is that the CSIRO had modelled a $273 carbon price to get to net zero emissions by 2050. The CSIRO says, 'Producers and consumers bear the cost of achieving emissions reductions.' What does this mean? The CSIRO shows that to achieve this target sheep, crop and cattle production falls off a cliff, decimating regional towns and hurting Australian families and businesses that rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

Anthony Albanese, the Leader of the Opposition, failed seven times to rule out a carbon tax when asked on Insiders. Joel Fitzgibbon has followed suit. They cannot explain. They're not prepared to be up-front to the Australian people about what this will cost them. How many jobs will be lost? What is it going to cost the economy? They're not prepared to do that because they have no plan. They've just got it out there on the never-never, thinking of some big, shiny target that they can fool the Australian people with. But the Australian people are not fooled, just like they weren't at the last election.