It's terrific to address the National Business Leaders' Forum on Sustainable Development this evening in Canberra.
This isn't a political event but you all know that the issues you've been so dedicated to for so long are now at the absolute centre of national debate.
It's a time that calls for courage, but it's an exciting time as well.
The fact that your forum is now in its twelfth year is testament to your work over many years to find better, more innovative and more sustainable ways to do business.
And your forum theme ‘Business Leadership in the New Global Innovation Economy: the race is on' rightly reflects the urgency of sustainable innovation - an open trading economy like Australia's cannot afford to be left behind in the world.
I know that your program today has been focused on discussion about how the advent of the low carbon economy will impact your business.
I hope you are all buoyed by the very real steps now being taken towards the development of more sustainable and cleaner energy sources.
And I hope you share my sense of excitement about the new era Australia is about to embark on as changes in the global environment open up exciting opportunities for our nation.
Australia is perfectly placed to make our way with confidence into the 21st century.
We have a strong economic record and robust institutions.
We emerged from the global recession with stronger employment growth, lower debt and lower deficits than all of the major advanced economies.
Yes, the summer of natural disasters here and overseas hurt our economy in the first quarter of this year, but the outlook is for solid growth in coming years.
These strong credentials, coupled with our geographic position, make us a place of opportunity for business and investment as the re-emergence of Asia's economic power heralds a new phase of prosperity for our nation.
And just as we see opportunity in the transition in the global economy from west to east - so we see opportunity in the transition in the global economy to low carbon growth.
89 countries responsible for more than 80 per cent of global emissions pledged to reduce or limit their emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Our close neighbour New Zealand, a coalition of US states and 31 European countries already have emissions trading schemes in place.
Australia is among 20 major emitters which need to work together if we are to successfully tackle climate change.
More than half of these countries contribute similar levels of emissions as Australia does to the global whole, countries like the United Kingdom, France, the Republic of Korea and South Africa.
I am determined to ensure Australia and Australians are not left behind.
As you are all keenly aware, only a market-based solution can provide long-term investment and consumer confidence.
A market-based solution means a price on carbon.
A price on carbon is the most efficient means of achieving our bipartisan emissions target and our nation is well equipped to make the transition.
And a price on carbon will encourage businesses to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy and those businesses and industries that are preparing for the advent of the pricing framework now will be best placed to take advantage of the impending clean energy economy.
Investments in a clean energy future will improve our chances of competing in the global clean energy economy of tomorrow.
The Australian Government is committed to helping industry to realise future opportunities and enabling firms to harness their comparative advantage.
My Government has committed to returning every cent raised from carbon pricing to assist households, to help businesses make the transition to a low carbon future and to fund programs to tackle climate change.
Assistance to business will support jobs and competitiveness and encourage innovation.
And we will provide ongoing assistance to support zero emissions energy generation and renewable energy.
The new clean energy technologies that will be critical to achieving deep cuts in emissions from the electricity sector while maintaining the high levels of energy security and reliability that households and businesses expect.
Australia has bountiful supplies of renewable fuel sources - wind, solar, wave and geothermal and the Government has a range of measures in place to drive renewable generation.
These include the Connecting Renewables program, Solar Flagships and the Renewable Energy Target, the RET scheme as it is called.
The RET will help us meet our commitment of 20 per cent of our electricity supply coming from renewable sources by 2020.
Large-scale renewable energy projects such as hydro, wind farms, and geothermal are expected to deliver the vast majority of this 2020 generation target.
With a carbon price in place, the RET is expected to drive $16 billion in new renewable energy investment in Australia by 2020.
This is great news for regional and rural Australia where much of this money is destined and the benefits will range from investment in local infrastructure to investment in training and employment.
Friends, the world is acting.
The race is on, Australia does not want to be left behind.
In a few minutes you'll hear from your keynote speaker tonight, Kishor Chauker who'll speak to you about India's “innovation economy”.
I'm sure you'll learn much from Kishor and I'm sure you'll carry new ideas and new inspiration with you when you go home from Canberra.
Our Asian neighbour India is a country that is becoming a global powerhouse by seizing the opportunities from the transition to low carbon growth.
I've come tonight to make sure you all know this: I lead a Government which is determined that Australia will do the same.