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

I thank Senator Milne for that question. When we came into government, we inherited an economy growing below trend and below expectations. Do you know what the result is of an economy that grows less? It emits less. And do you know what we have been working on? We have been working on growing the economy more strongly. And do you know what happens when you grow the economy more strongly? You emit more. And you know what? We can actually stop emissions altogether if we all just sit here quietly and do nothing, but on this side of the chamber we think it is good to have a strong economy. We think it is good to have a stronger, more prosperous economy and create more jobs.

We actually know that our businesses here in Australia are by and large more efficient than many of our competitors in other parts of the world. You know what has happened with the Labor-Greens carbon tax, which I am sure you would like to introduce? It helped make businesses in other parts of the world—manufacturing businesses that were higher emitting—more competitive than businesses here in Australia. As we were losing market share to China and other parts of the world, guess what. Not only did the jobs go overseas, not only did the economic activity go overseas; the emissions went overseas as well and, for the same amount of economic output, their emissions were actually higher. So you might have been reducing emissions in Australia a little on the back of shrinking our economic growth potential, but you actually increased the economic growth potential in the rest of the world and increased emissions beyond that. You are actually helping to boost global greenhouse gas emissions on the back of the completely destructive carbon tax that you and the Labor Party imposed on the Australian people.