Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

What I can guarantee is that Australians will have more choice. What I can guarantee is that Australians will have access to cars which save them money because they will use less fuel. What I can also guarantee is that the minister and the departments have gone through an exhaustive consultation process with industry, and, as a consequence, there have been changes made to the draft regulations and legislation which the government put out, or the draft policy positions.

So I think this is an example of a government making sure that there is proper consultation with the sector and a government that listens. I know that that is something that those opposite may not recall ever happening under their government. This is a government that listens to industry and to consumers and seeks to put in place the most appropriate framework that ensures that Australia does join the many countries of the world as an advanced economy with a standard.

Let's remember we are behind the eight ball, Senator. We are behind the eight ball. Other advanced economies have similar standards, and I know that what happened, again, is the same thing that happened on any action on climate change in your party room, which is that parts of the National Party vetoed it, which is why we are alongside Russia as an economy that doesn't have a standard. That's where you took us. Well, we want to move on. Consumers want to move on. We want to make sure Australians can choose from a wider range of more efficient modern vehicles and that they save at the petrol pump. This is the key thing, isn't it? You just want to make sure Australians don't get the choice of cars which are actually cheaper to run. Well, we do.