Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

As I understood the situation, because we have not had further hydro-industrialisation in Tasmania, courtesy of the Greens, we need Basslink to import brown coal energy from Victoria into Tasmania, and that is another environmental debacle, courtesy of the Australian Greens, that does not get the sort of publicity it deserves. Having said that, we also use Basslink the other way, to export hydropower to the mainland and, as a result, get some benefits for our home state of Tasmania. But let us never forget that the carbon tax windfall, so called, for the hydro was in fact paid for by Australian taxpayers and Tasmanian taxpayers, and we are concerned to reduce the cost of living for our fellow Australians and to ensure that businesses remain viable. (Time expired)