Carbon Tax

09-August-2011

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN (Port Stephens—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.04 p.m.]: I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the Federal Government's carbon tax will cost New South Wales 31,000 jobs;

(2) notes the Leader of the Opposition is yet to publicly state New South Wales Labor's position on the carbon tax; and

(3) calls on the Leader of the Opposition to find the courage to repeat in public what he says behind closed doors in his shadow Cabinet.

In explaining why this motion should be accorded priority, I detailed the effect that the Leader of the Opposition's silence or lack of interest in the Federal Government's carbon tax would have on the economy and the people of New South Wales. The Leader of the Opposition's comments on this issue add to people's confusion about what he and New South Wales Labor stand for. The November 2006 issue of Workers Online featured an article entitled "Robbo Goes Green: John Robertson's speech to the Walk Against Warming".

The speech followed the predictable barrel-thumping trade union leader line for a few pages, but in summary it calls on government to "place a price on carbon emissions and drive innovation and efficiencies that will create new jobs and build on the economy, not harm it". That sounds to me like support for a carbon tax. On 24 March last year, when the Leader of the Opposition was the Minister for Energy—the portfolio in which he orchestrated the disastrous solar bonus scheme—he is quoted in the Australian Financial Review as telling a Committee for Economic Development Australia lunch:

I think there's a general view that everybody wants some certainty around the price of carbon. And certainly from where I sit, looking at gas as a transitory fuel, we need a price on carbon to make gas competitive. At the moment with no price on carbon it just doesn't compete with coal.

That is what the Leader of the Opposition said in March last year. On 3 April this year, only a few days after his carefully orchestrated March State election defeat, in an interview with the Insiders' Barrie Cassidy, when asked about a carbon tax he replied:

Well, I think that the first point to make very quickly is that last Saturday's result was not a result of that. I support the scientific view that climate change is real. I want to get more information from the Prime Minister on the detail of the compensation package before I arrive at a position."

He further said:

The critical thing is the full package. I want to see the detail of the full package, including the compensation, because so far what I've heard is that people will be compensated. I will obviously as leader seek a detailed briefing from the Commonwealth.

Has the Leader of the Opposition had his detailed briefing? If not, why not? If so, where does he sit? Let us fast forward to this morning. I take the opportunity to quote Andrew Clennell, the much-respected State political editor of the Daily Telegraph. The article states:

Opposition Leader John Robert told colleagues yesterday they will never hear him publicly support a carbon tax and that Prime Minister Julia Gillard had completely mishandled the issue.

The comments were made in shadow cabinet and caucus yesterday, Labor sources said, and are seen as a clear move away from the line taken by former premier Kristina Keneally at the last election when she supported the tax.

Mr Robertson's comments also come after Labor MPs Noreen Hay and Cherie Burton refused to show up for a vote in support of the tax in state parliament last week.

Ms Hay, the MLA for Wollongong, was said to be concerned about the future of steelworkers in her electorate.

"He (Mr Robertson) said 'it's like Barry O'Farrell when Workchoices was happening. O'Farrell made sure he never publicly supported it'," an MP said. "He said, 'just like that you'll never hear me say I support a carbon tax' … 'the whole thing's been mishandled by the federal government.

"They did it five weeks before the (state) election. That wasn't helpful'."

Ms Hay's move came a week after Premier Barry O'Farrell released NSW Treasury advice saying 31,000 jobs could go over the tax.

A spokeswoman for Mr Robertson said last night he would never publicly discuss shadow cabinet or caucus discussions.

It is a simple question and it deserves an answer. Did we get an answer today on Radio 2UE news at 1.00 p.m. when the Leader of the Opposition said, "I support the position that the Prime Minister is out there advocating, and that is putting a position on carbon"—I assume that in this case "position" is a euphemism for "tax"—"A significant economic reform that we are seeing being put in place by this Federal Government."? He got that right. That significant reform will be disastrous for New South Wales families. We are talking about 31,000 unemployed, including 18,500 in the Hunter.

Mr Clayton Barr: Point of order: The member for Port Stephens is clearly misleading the House when he speaks of 18,500 jobs.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER (Mr Thomas George): Order! There is no point of order. The member for Port Stephens has the call.

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN: Just so the member for Cessnock realises there will be 31,000 job losses, around 18,500 job losses in the Hunter region. I would point out that Cessnock is part of the Hunter region. That means a good many of his families were—

Mr Clayton Barr: The goannas will not like it. The mine workers will love the carbon tax.

Mr Craig Baumann: There are many mine workers and they will suffer a great deal. The member for Cessnock also has an aluminium smelter in his electorate. I believe he did not impress too many of the workers from there before the last election. Aluminium smelting multinationals are very price sensitive especially to electricity, their major input, and there is nothing to stop them moving overseas as soon as the carbon tax bites. This is a very important issue. We need this Parliament to tell the Prime Minister that now is not the time to even think about instituting a carbon tax.