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Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Page: 4574

Carbon Pricing

Ms BRODTMANN (Canberra) (15:27): Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Climate Change—

Opposition members interjecting—

The SPEAKER: Order!. The member for Canberra has the call. The clock will be reset. The member for Canberra can commence her question again and hopefully be heard in relative silence.

Ms BRODTMANN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Is the minister aware of recent comments in relation to policies to reduce carbon emissions and tackle dangerous climate change? What is the government's response?

Mr COMBET (Charlton—Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) (15:27): I would like to thank the member for Canberra for her question because there has certainly been some important commentary over the last week or so in relation to climate change. In fact, two of the opposition frontbenchers have, over the last week, shredded the Leader of the Opposition's sham subsidies-for-polluters policy on climate change. The member for Wentworth I think made a very valid point last week that the whole purpose of the coalition's policy is that it can be easily dumped if you do not really accept and respect the climate science and accept the responsibility of having to deal with it. So it is a policy that can be dumped at any time and that is one of its purposes.

The member for Wentworth also made it clear that, if the subsidies-for-polluters policy ever really went ahead, taxpayers would foot the bill to the tune of around $18 billion per year by the year 2050. This is because their policy pays polluters and taxes families to fund it. That much was confirmed by the member for Flinders, the shadow minister, last night in a quite extraordinary appearance on 7.30 where he made a number of very important admissions about the coalition policy. On the television the member for Flinders admitted that the policy was in fact temporary, that he was focussing on nothing more than a 10-year horizon for the policy potentially, which is not much good when investors are looking for certainty in long-lived assets that might have a life in the electricity-generating sector of anything from 30 to 50 years. He also made an extraordinary commitment on behalf of the coalition to subsidise electricity generators for an indefinite period of time by meeting capital and operating costs associated with the introduction of different technologies.

Upon my request, my department has used some publicly available information to estimate the cost of the member for Flinders' commitment and it is up to $11 billion by the year 2020, with an ongoing cost after that of up to $1½ billion per year. So to fund that quite extraordinary multibillion dollar promise, the member for Flinders then volunteered that he would dip into the shadow Treasurer's already discredited budget savings, which is yet another blow to the shadow Treasurer's savings promises. Therefore, in one single interview, the member for Flinders exposed fundamental flaws in both the subsidies for polluters policy and their budget policy. No-one can take their climate change position seriously.

We have heard all about, during the last few days, all of those who comment on that side on the climate science. Take, for example, the member for Indi, who was every quick to dismiss the Climate Commission's science report, making the absurd claim that this report—the report itself—will shut down Australia as a modern industrialised economy. No exaggeration in that one. She was joined by the member for Gippsland, who suggested the report was a political agenda of the government. This is an independent science commission. We have had Senator Boswell out. We have had Senator Abetz out. We have had Senator Minchin out. The fact of the matter is simple on this issue: those on that side deny the science. They will not respect the scientific evidence and they have no credible policy to deal with it. (Time expired)

Ms Gillard: I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paperit being after 3.30 pm.

Honourable members interjecting—