Page 486 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

Ayes 10

Noes 5

Mr Barr

Mr Hargreaves

Mr Coe

Mr Smyth

Ms Bresnan

Ms Hunter

Mrs Dunne

Ms Burch

Ms Le Couteur

Mr Hanson

Mr Corbell

Mr Rattenbury

Mr Seselja

Ms Gallagher

Mr Stanhope

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.

Sitting suspended from 12.33 to 2 pm.

Questions without notice

Environment—carbon tax

MR SESELJA: My question is to the Treasurer. Has the Treasury done research into how much the federal government’s proposed carbon tax will cost ordinary Canberra families? If so, what was the outcome of that research? If not, why not?

MS GALLAGHER: As far as—

Mr Hargreaves: Point of order, Mr Speaker. What is the relevance to the ACT—

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

MS GALLAGHER: As far as I am aware, the scheme has not been determined by the federal government; it is a bit difficult to cost a scheme that has not had any detail provided to it at this point in time. As I understand it, the federal government has taken a decision—a preliminary decision—to introduce a price on carbon and is awaiting a committee report from the federal parliament. More detail will be provided, and it is at that point, I believe, that the ACT Treasury would provide the government with details on the implications of that for residents of the ACT.

MR SPEAKER: Supplementary, Mr Seselja.

MR SESELJA: Does the ACT government support the federal government’s proposed carbon tax?

MS GALLAGHER: This government has always made clear that we support a price on carbon. I think we have always been clear that the issues facing the global economy around climate change are significant. We are not climate change deniers on this side of the Assembly, unlike over there. We believe that the cost of taking action will include increases in costs. We have seen that from our own work we have done here around setting ourselves a very ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target in the ACT.

Unlike those opposite, we are not climate change deniers. We believe that there needs to be a price on carbon, that we need to reform and move to a clean economy, and we are supportive of moves in this direction.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video