Question Time

CARBON TAX

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:30): My question is to the Premier. In congratulating the Premier on his appointment and noting his commitment that we on this side of the house will at last get answers to our questions—

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs REDMOND: —I ask the Premier: why does he support the carbon tax?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:30): I thank the honourable member for her question. Can I thank all those honourable members who have given me their best wishes over the coming weeks and today and—

Mrs Redmond: Those on our side.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, that's right. It goes without saying they are all on this side. Can I say that with the outbreak of goodwill I feel very warm, and I am sure it is going to last for the next—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —30 seconds, I suppose. No, thank you very much to all those who have made their kind best wishes. The carbon tax, which I know has just passed the Senate, is a historic reform. It will do two very important things. First, it acknowledges that this massive threat not only to our country but to humanity has been grappled with by this nation. One thing we do know about the threats of climate change is that the costs of adjustment only grow the longer they are left unaddressed. What we are seeing is a national Labor government, that I am proud to support in this endeavour, accepting responsibility for grappling with one of the great challenges that face not only our nation but our planet.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It makes me feel proud to be a member of the Labor Party that we are actually facing up to the big issues that face our community. This has been an incredibly vexed issue. It is extraordinarily difficult to grapple with complex public policy issues when there is not a consensus in the community, especially when you have an opposition leader like Tony Abbott who has decided to take the most destructive approach to his role in the history, I think, of opposition leaders. This is the very thing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Norwood, you are warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that I was seeking to address in my ministerial statement. I do not think that this is the approach that leads to the resolution of complex public policy issues when you have an incredibly—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is a remarkable achievement, I must say, for the federal government, over the opposition of such a destructive approach to the fighting of this carbon price, to have achieved its result. So, I do support it, and I support it because it is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —an incredibly important reform to allow our economy to make the adjustments that are necessary to position itself for a carbon constrained future, which everybody accepts is going to be what faces us. The first movers—and we have been very early movers in this with our extraordinary encouragement of renewable energies in this state. We are well known, not only across the nation but across the world, for our investment in renewable energies. There are massive opportunities for us to continue our investments in that area.

There are opportunities that will be freed up today by the very instrument that the minister for planning has dealt with, that is, to provide some greater capacity for wind farms to be developed in our state, to take advantage of the fact that New South Wales and Victoria have set their face against the wind farm industry. This will allow us to continue to grow this industry that South Australia has already got an incredible start on. I think this is a historic day for Australia. I support the federal government's success, and I think all members should embrace this opportunity that allows us to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —develop the industries that will flow from the higher price on carbon.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Light.