Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

ROBERTS () (): Let's have a look at the history that's driving this bill and its pedigree. You've just talked about the prevention of warming, yet there's no specific need being met. Do you think people are just going to buy the idea of limiting the warming of the planet, with no specific evidence and no specific need? No wonder there is so much corruption in these carbon dioxide credit schemes overseas. Let's have a look at the history.

John Howard's government was the first party to have an emissions trading scheme as policy. Tony Abbott later correctly stated that an emissions trading scheme is a carbon dioxide tax. John Howard's government said it would not sign the UN's Kyoto protocol but would implement it. In doing so, it had to avoid shutting down industry and so stole farmers' rights to use their own property. Farmers are still paying that price right now, without the billions of dollars in compensation for the loss of the right to use their land, which they're entitled to under section 51(xxxi) of our Constitution. The Howard government got around that by getting the states to do its dirty work. Peter Beattie is on the record in the Queensland parliament Hansard as saying that he put his native vegetation protection legislation in place to help John Howard comply with the UN's Kyoto protocol.

John Howard's government also brought in the Renewable Energy Target—at two per cent. Just recently, John Howard admitted that it's now out of control. John Howard's government implemented the UN's Rio declaration and the UN's Kyoto protocol, and the Liberals and Nationals have since implemented the Paris Agreement and the UN's '2050 net zero'—all driven by foreign bureaucrats and corruption. I'll come back to the minister citing the UN IPCC in a minute. Then we saw Kevin Rudd putting these initiatives of the Howard-Anderson government on steroids. Kevin Rudd pushed an emissions trading scheme, but it fell over thanks to the Greens; the Greens rejected it. Kevin Rudd dramatically raised the Renewable Energy Target. Julia Gillard then implemented a carbon dioxide tax and broke promises to do so. Tony Abbott, to his credit, rescinded that ghastly tax, which the Labor government is now bringing back. After Tony Abbott rescinded it, Malcolm Turnbull and Greg Hunt put in place, through this parliament, in 2015, the basis of the safeguard mechanism, and now Labor is building on that. That is the pedigree of this shabby bill, the details of which those opposite have had to hide from the people. Let me ask you a question: why are China and India not doing what this Labor-Greens-teal-Pocock coalition government is doing? Why is Russia not doing it? Why is Brazil not doing it? Why are we punishing Australian employers and families?