Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is directed to Senator Minchin, the Minister representing the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Does the minister recall the claims made last year by the Prime Minister that any attempt to make significant cuts to our carbon emissions would cripple our economy and cut wages by 20 per cent? Does the minister also recall the claims made by the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Mr Macfarlane, that it would be economic folly to establish a national carbon emissions trading scheme? Has not the Prime Minister this week, after a rather recent and sudden conversion to ‘climate change realist’, now admitted that Australia needs a carbon trading scheme as part of measures to make significant cuts to our emissions? Does the minister still agree with last year’s assessment by the government that carbon trading was economic folly and a threat to wages and, if not, what has changed?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the opposition seems to be ill informed. Indeed, I am advised that the shadow Treasurer, Mr Wayne Swan, was caught out badly by the media this morning when he called a doorstop to assert falsely that the Prime Minister had suddenly converted to a position of proposing a domestic national emissions trading scheme. He was picked up by a journalist present who said, ‘We’ve not heard the Prime Minister actually say that,’ and, as I am advised, Mr Swan had to back off. It would appear that Senator Evans is suffering from the same delusion.

The government continues to be opposed to Australia acting unilaterally to tax Australian industry by way of a domestic emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax in the absence of any action by our trading partners or other major nations in the world. We announced sometime late last year that the government was open to the proposition—indeed, supportive of the proposition advanced properly by the former Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell—that an international global trading scheme in carbon was something we saw some attraction to and would be prepared to contemplate. Indeed, a committee has been established to report on this matter and a discussion paper will be released this week on that very matter as to how an international trading scheme might operate and Australia’s part in that.

We continue to oppose the Labor Party’s policy of a unilateral domestic emissions trading scheme, which we continue to believe would do damage to the Australian economy, would damage Australia’s workers, would put Australians out of work—it would damage the very people the Labor Party professes to support—would drive industry overseas and would be a disinvestment action by any Australian government. So we continue to argue against that proposition. We continue to believe that the Labor Party, in pursuing that policy, is doing Australia great damage. We continue to believe that the Labor Party has no credibility on this issue. To the extent that it continues to flatly and absolutely oppose even any contemplation or consideration of nuclear power playing a part in Australia’s future energy needs, Labor has no credibility on this issue. As to the misrepresentation of the Prime Minister’s position, I wish to, as I said, correct the record.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I take it, from the minister’s answer, that the government will be taking no steps to support carbon trading until such time as there is a fully established international scheme. That is certainly contrary to the impression the Prime Minister gave yesterday. But does the government still maintain that a carbon trading scheme is a significant threat to our economy, that it would cut real wages and increase electricity prices and is total economic folly? Is that your assessment of any carbon trading proposition designed to cut emissions in Australia?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said, the government does continue to believe that unilateral action by Australia to introduce on its own—in ignorance of anything else that the world is doing or in the absence of any move in the international community to have an international trading scheme in carbon—will do significant damage to this economy and put Australians out of work for no gain to the environment whatsoever. It is a fallacy to suggest that you can just unilaterally introduce the domestic scheme without doing significant damage to Australians.