Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

It is important because, as the Australian Senate, we should stand for maintaining our living standards. We should stand for building prosperity and opportunity into the future. We should support plans and decisions that will actually lead to stronger economic growth so that everybody across Australia will have the opportunity to get ahead. We should stand for bringing down the cost of living by reducing the cost of electricity and reducing the cost of gas. The Senate has this opportunity—and the Labor Party has the opportunity to fulfil its promises to the Australian people at successive elections: in 2010, 'There will never be a carbon tax under a government I lead;' in 2013, 'We have already removed the carbon tax;' and, in 2014, Senator Bullock saying that the Labor Party is scrapping the carbon tax—on the same day that Labor voted to keep it.

We have had this debate for long enough. The Australian people are very well aware of what is before this chamber, and it is time that we got on with it and took the pressure off Australian families and off business. (Time expired)