House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2) 51 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Roxby Downs ROXBY DOWNS Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition ROXBY DOWNS Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:39): I have a question for the Premier. How many tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum will be put into the South Australian atmosphere by the expanded Roxby Downs mine when it is at full production, and how will these outputs be offset? The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly Ramsay Premier Minister for Economic Development Minister for Social Inclusion Minister for the Arts Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change ROXBY DOWNS The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:39): We know that yesterday was the attack on Andamooka; now he has gone up the road a bit, a 30-minute drive, and he has now turned his attention to— Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting: The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: Can I just say that when I introduced the first climate change legislation in the history of this nation—and one of the third in the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: —the Leader of the Opposition attacked it and said he would not support it because it was not tough enough. It needed to be stronger. Then he received a phone call from his then federal mates and I am told he received a phone call from the business community and, suddenly, the next day he was opposing it—not because they were not tough enough, but because they were too tough and were going to destroy local industry. That indicates how phoney the Leader of the Opposition is. He thinks that he can get away with saying different things to different audiences. Let me tell you this: we have the transcripts. When you are a Leader of the Opposition, when you lead a political party—I have been in this job for over 13 years and had a long time in opposition—you have to think beyond the day; you have to think beyond the week; you have to think about costings; you need to be able to add up. You have to realise that on election day all the promises come home to haunt you, because you have to explain how you are going to pay for them. That is why we will make sure that the desalination plant, which we are going to build—rather than your talking about developing a plan by the end of 2009—is powered by sustainable energy. That is why we lead this nation in sustainable energy. I am happy to take advice in a bipartisan manner from the Leader of the Opposition or anyone else, but when it comes to a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions only this government has taken action. Compare our record with the fact that you did nothing when you were in power.