Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Abetz. Does the minister agree with the Prime Minister that the coalition's Direct Action Plan is an environmental fig leaf and a recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What Senator Ketter undoubtedly does not tell us is the timing of that particular statement, because what the Prime Minister has indicated in recent times very clearly is that the plan that we are taking to Paris is one that he supports; it is a plan that puts Australia at the forefront of action in this space, with a 50 per cent reduction on a per capita basis. That is the biggest cut per capita of any country in the world. That is a measure that the Prime Minister fully supports. We on this side of the chamber fully support it.

What we know from the Labor Party is that in their bid for Green preferences in inner-city seats they would go to the bizarre level of trashing the Australian economy, trashing Australian household budgets and trashing Australian jobs in a bid to ensure that the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, Ms Plibersek, is re-elected in her inner-city seat and in the hope that the Labor Party might win the seat from Mr Bandt. I say to the honourable senator that we as a government are committed to doing our bit, but in a very responsible manner which will not prejudice Australian jobs and households.

Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Does the minister agree with the Prime Minister that by:

… relying so heavily on market forces to address this challenging problem, the ETS is far more in the great traditions of modern Liberalism than any other available policy response.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When you start having a Labor Party senator pretending to know what the great tradition of liberalism is, you know that they are really desperate to try to get into the policy space—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pause the clock! Senator Wong, on a point of order?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order. I am not sure if the senator misheard the question. It is a quote from Mr Turnbull. It is not Senator Ketter.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. The minister was just commencing his answer.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Labor Party's approach to this would see the Australian GDP reduced considerably. It would mug the economy by $633 billion and real wages growth would be around six per cent lower. Australian income—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pause the clock! Senator Moore, on a point of order?

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order on direct relevance to the quote provided to the minister in the question. He has not come close to responding to that quote.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the minister that he has 27 seconds in which to answer the question.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Labor Party has a policy that they, of course, do not want expounded in this chamber, because they do not want the Australian people to hear what the consequences of Labor Party policy are. Mr Turnbull fully supports the approach of the government which he now leads, a government that will be taking a plan to Paris—

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 25 seconds, could he have—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pause the clock. Senator Conroy, your colleague is on her feet. Senator Moore, on a point of order?

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order. Again, in the remaining four seconds, as my colleague has said, we have not come near to that quote. Could you please, again, draw the attention of the minister to the quote?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the minister that he has four seconds in which to answer the question.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That the Prime Minister actually supports the government's policy. (Time expired)

Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Is the Prime Minister right to say that he has:

… no doubt we will have an emissions trading scheme in Australia.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again, an unsourced and undated quote. But one thing I do know is that Senator Ketter's party went to the election promising that there would be no carbon tax, then introduced a carbon tax, then went to the 2013 election saying that they had already abolished the carbon tax. Then, when we sought to abolish the carbon tax, Senator Ketter and his colleagues ensured that we could not abolish the carbon tax until such time as the crossbenchers came to the rescue of the Australian people and represented their interests.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pause the clock. Senator Moore, on a point of order?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Two more question times!

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Conroy, your colleague is on her feet.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order relating to direct relevance to the question, which refers again to a quote. The minister has not referred in any way to the quote in the question.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the commencement of his answer the minister did express some doubt about the quote. I remind the minister of the question. He has 30 seconds in which to answer.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When the Labor Party serves up quotes, you have to look at them exceptionally carefully. As we know, Senator Wong, Senator Cameron, Senator Conroy and Senator Carr—and I hope Senator Ketter is not falling for it as well—have a capacity to misquote and distort. The one thing that we know was not distorted was the promise by the Labor Party that there would be no carbon tax. Then they introduced one; then, when they were given the opportunity to repeal the carbon tax, they repudiated the wish of the Australian people. (Time expired)