The Prime Minister said yesterday she will allow the government’s multi-party climate change committee to finish its deliberations at the end of next year before making a final decision, and would not play “rule-in rule-out games” before the committee had even met.
“The committee will start, the committee will work, it’ll do it diligently and we’ll see where it gets to and what the outcomes are,” Ms Gillard said.
The Prime Minister again attempted to pressure Tony Abbott — who has refused to participate in the committee — to allow two Coalition representatives to join.
She said Mr Abbott’s predecessor as Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, was “passionate about climate change and putting a price on carbon” and would be a very good representative for the opposition on the committee.
Ms Gillard’s comments came as the Opposition Leader attacked her in the first question time of the new parliament for reversing her pre-election position, which ruled out the possibility of introducing a carbon tax to cut emissions.
Asked by Mr Abbott “why she has broken her election promise” after ruling out a carbon price the day before the election, Ms Gillard said the Australian people had voted for the current chamber - which had the independents holding the balance of power - and there needed to be “consensus and collaboration”.
“Having listened to the voice of the Australian people when they created this parliament and understanding what this parliament means, we will work through the processes of the multi-party committee in good faith,” Ms Gillard said.
She urged Mr Abbott to allow the Coalition to join the committee and be a “builder, not a wrecker”.
In the Senate, Queensland National Ron Boswell said a price on carbon and promotion of expensive renewable energy could contribute to power price rises that would wipe out entire industries.
Senator Boswell said a carbon tax, ahead of substantive action by big global emitters, was now a possibility and this was a dangerous development for Australia.
He said the nation was facing a lack of investment in power generation because would-be investors in power stations did not know whether a price on carbon would be introduced.
Although a carbon tax could create investment certainty it would pass the buck to consumers, he warned.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said that, to have a strong economy, the nation needed to have a sustainable environment.
“That means we need to start reducing our carbon pollution levels,” Mr Combet said. “In this area the government has three priorities: first, to continue our strong support for renewable energy investments; secondly, to promote energy efficiency; and thirdly, to work towards the introduction of a carbon price. A carbon price is a key economic reform that is in this nation’s interests.”
Mr Combet said such a move would unlock investment in renewable energy and low-emissions technology and generate certainty for business investment.
