Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Senator Ludwig. I refer the minister to three denials the White House issued in three days regarding the United States introducing a carbon tax. In particular, a White House official on 13 November said:

The Administration has not proposed nor is planning to propose a carbon tax.

The next day, on 14 November, the White House said it would not 'ignore jobs and growth simply to address climate change' but instead wanted to make sure middle-class families do not get a tax hike. Finally, on the very next day, 15 November, the White House said:

We would never propose a carbon tax, and have no intention of proposing one.

Does the minister accept that with three denials in three days there is no chance of the United States replicating Australia's carbon tax any time soon?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Birmingham for his continued interest in setting a price on carbon, particularly in the US. It is important to look at the global action that is being taken to address climate change. I know Senator Birmingham is fixated on the US, but even California and a range of states have looked at how they can reduce their carbon. They have worked through a range of opportunities to reduce their carbon emissions and provide one of the additional global actions that are being taken. Many countries are also undertaking the same action.

The climate change commission, as I mentioned yesterday, completely dispels the myth that Senator Birmingham wants to purvey. Senator Birmingham's major premise in his question is that no-one is taking action on climate change and that the US is typical of that large block that is not taking action. But if you look at the facts, you see that the global community is taking action on climate change, including states within the US. Why? They want to ensure that they reduce their carbon emissions because they understand that climate change is real and they believe that they need to take action to address carbon emissions. Ninety countries representing about 90 per cent of the global economy have committed to reduce their carbon pollution and have policies in place to give effect to that. Those are the facts on what is occurring throughout this area. The commission's report also concluded that a carbon price is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions and is more efficient than any direct subsidy policy. Those opposite would tell us that their direct action would work. It would not work, it would not provide the opportunity— (Time expired)

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask my first supplementary. Will the minister then explain how it will be to Australia's benefit to have in four years time, at the conclusion of the Obama administration, a national economy wide carbon tax the government itself forecast to be in excess of $30 per tonne when the United States, the world's largest economy, still will not have one at all?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Birmingham for his first supplementary question.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Interjections are disorderly. Senator Ludwig is entitled to be heard in silence.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you look at what the US have committed to, you can see that Senator Birmingham does not do justice to it in his question. If you look at the comparability of Australia's efforts on a range of indicators, Australia's 2020 targets are comparable to those of other advanced economies, including the US. They have a 2020 target of 17 per cent below 2005 and a percentage change from 1990 of minus 2, a percentage change in per capita emissions of minus 29 and a cut in per capita emissions in 2020, implied by targets, of 17. That is what the US is seeking to achieve. But again it is global action that is being undertaken—

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order. Perhaps Senator Ludwig would care to explain to the chamber how it is they are achieving these targets without a carbon tax.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not a point of order. Senator Ludwig.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It does seem that those opposite have lost the plot trying to explain why the world has not ended from 1 July when we introduced a price on carbon. (Time expired)

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask a further supplementary question, Mr President. Given that the Obama administration have demonstrated after their re-election that they could be taken at their word when they said that there would be no carbon tax under the administration he leads, why couldn't Prime Minister Gillard be trusted when she said prior to the last election that there would be no carbon tax under the government that she leads?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Birmingham for his second supplementary question. What he does is really underline the problem the opposition have. From 1 July this government has taken action to address climate change. Senator Birmingham would have liked to engage in that and do the same but he could not find the courage to do it. And all of the absurdities that Mr Abbott mentioned did not come true. You knew they were never going to come true, Mr President, and so did Senator Birmingham. The Californian government on 15 November effectively kicked off its emissions trading scheme. Again the US is acting through its states. That will provide opportunities across the globe in terms of how emissions can be reduced, and it is a far better place to be than what Senator Birmingham wants to suggest.