PM: I'm joined today by David Bradbury and I'm very pleased to be with him in his electorate of Lindsay and I've had the opportunity today to spend some time with a family, most particularly with Craig and Michelle.
And Craig and Michelle have talked to me about why they think as a nation we should tackle climate change and get a clean energy future. They've got three big reasons for doing that, their names are Hannah, Max and Luke and they are concerned about their kids' future and that's why they want to see our country tackle climate change. They are three pretty good reasons there behind us.
Yesterday I announced how our country is going to tackle climate change, how we are going to seize that clean energy future. From 1 July next year we will get around 500 big polluters to pay the price of putting carbon pollution into our atmosphere. At the moment that pollution can go into our atmosphere for free, from 1 July next year big polluters will pay a price - $23 per tonne. And what that will mean is that those big polluters will look for different ways of doing business, different ways of getting cleaner energy, so that they cut the carbon pollution that they generate.
By 2020 that means we will see a reduction of 160 million tonnes of carbon pollution. That's the effect of what I announced yesterday. It's the same as taking 45 million cars off the road and to give us a sense of the scale of that there are around 12 million cars on the road in Australia today.
Australians want us to act on climate change and we are going to get this done - get Australia the clean energy future that Australians want to see. Now, of course Australians are asking the question ‘what does this mean for me and my family?'.
And as we're seen Craig demonstrate today, you can get on the cleanenergyfuture.gov.au website and use the household estimator to give a direct figure for you and your family, what it will mean for you.
Nine out of ten Australian households will get tax cuts, or payment increases, or a combination of the two. What that means is almost six million households will receive sufficient, so that they come out square for the expected flow through of the price that big polluters pay.
Over four million households, our lowest income households, are going to get the benefit of a 20 per cent buffer. We know that for Australians, like older Australians who live on the age pension, that the budget is tight, so we want to make sure they've got the benefit of that 20 per cent buffer, as we move to price carbon and there are some price impacts that flow through.
Those price impacts will be modest. We are talking about a 0.7 per cent increase in the cost of living - less than 1 per cent. On average that means a change of $9.90 and on average people will receive through tax cuts and family payment changes and pension increases, $10.10.
Now families are different households are different, they've in different income circumstances, different numbers of kids and so people should use the household estimator to be able to look at what this means for them and their family.
But we do know that there are families around the country who will find that as a result of being eligible for tax cuts, or family payments, or increases in compensation in pensions, that they will come out in front. To give an example of that, a single pensioner, maybe an older Australian woman, who is a single pensioner on the maximum rate of the old age pension. She will receive $134 more than the expected average impact of the flow through of carbon pricing.
For a pensioner couple, they will receive $226 more than the expected average flow through impact of carbon pricing, and if we took a family $85,000 family income, a few kids, a couple of kids that are very young, under five years old, they will receive $378 more than the expected average impact on them of the flow through of pricing carbon.
Now, there will be some people who get on the household estimator and when they look at it they will see that they are not receiving sufficient amount through tax cuts or family payments, so that they come out square. There will be some families in that position. Nine out of ten households are getting some assistance, but obviously some households will see that they haven't been fully assisted.
But the impact of this on prices will be modest, 0.7 per cent of CPI and families that are in the category of not being fully assisted will find when they work through it, that the average impact on them is 0.5 per cent of their income.
So, I'd urge families not to guess, to actually get on the household estimator and have a look. I'm determined as Prime Minister that we get on with the job of pricing carbon, of getting our big polluters to pay. We've had a long debate, at times it's been a difficult debate, now is the time to get this done and we will get it done from 1 July next year.
I'd like to very, very much thank Craig and Michelle for having us here today, for welcoming me and David into their home and I'd like to thank Hannah and Max too, for sharing some of their stories and Luke for doing a bit of building around us.
OK. Thank you. I'm very happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will the Coalition have a mandate to repeal the carbon tax if it wins the next election?
PM: Well, the important thing is getting this job done and introducing carbon pricing on 1 July next year. Of course, in 2013 people will vote and they will vote seeing what difference pricing carbon and tackling climate change means, they'll see the around 500 big polluters paying and they'll be able to have experienced themselves what the tax cuts and changes in family payments and pensions mean for them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how do you feel the package is being accepted out in the community?
PM: We've got a lot of explaining to do and I'm going to keep explaining. Yesterday when we launched the package, of course I wanted to explain the way it worked to Australians, I'm doing that today and I'll be doing that for many days, many weeks, many months ahead. I want Australians to understand how we are going to get that clean energy future.
But I have been keen to say to people today, that at the very heart of this is something quite simple and the thing that's quite simple is as we stand here in this beautiful sunshine today, carbon pollution is being put on our atmosphere for free, by big polluters. That could happen forever, there's no incentive to change that behaviour, you can do it for free.
Well, from 1 July next year it will cost the big polluters and that will drive change, that will cut carbon pollution.
We were talking about how near public transport we were, that was a great example.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will this be put to a public inquiry and would you accept any recommendations that may come out of any inquiry, whether it's public or a Parliamentary Inquiry?
PM: This is the package we will take to the Australian Parliament to be legislated. I expect that there will be proper parliamentary processes, including a Parliamentary Inquiry and people will be able to put submissions and there may be some commentary about the details of the package. But the package I announced yesterday is the package we will deliver.JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is the carbon price sufficiently high the big polluters might change their ways?
PM: We've started this at $23 and it will drive change. It will particularly drive change so that we see more clean energy become available, by pricing pollution we are effectively saying that dirty energy will be comparatively more expensive and clean energy will be comparatively cheaper - that will turbo-charge the development of clean energy in our country.
We're already seeing some great projects commissioned. I had the opportunity, for example, to announce the government support that is enabling huge solar projects to go ahead. In Moree here in New South Wales and Chinchilla in Queensland. That's the start, by pricing carbon we will turbo-charge the development of clean energy for the future.
And of course this package has special measures to support the development of clean energy. $10 billion in a Clean Energy Development Corporation, which will work to provide commercial loans, but generate more clean energy for our future and of course there is also the support available through a new body called ARENA to help get clean energy developed more quickly.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Labor holds this seat by 2.2 per cent. How concerned are you about you about losing marginal seats like this one at the next election, because of a cost of living worry among the community?
PM: What I'm concerned about and I'm sure I can speak for David in this regard, what we're concerned about is doing the right thing for the country's future. Our country has debated long and hard tackling climate change and as we stand here today I'm very confident in saying the vast majority of Australians believe climate change is real. They believe it's caused by carbon pollution and human activity and they want to see a government like us take effective action and we will.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've been critical in the past of Tony Abbott's direct action plan, saying it's using the taxpayer's money to pay the big polluters. Given the assistance for coal and steel now has to come out of the budget, not the carbon tax revenue, is that being a little hypocritical?
PM: The criticisms I've made of the Opposition's policies are that they'll be very costly and they won't work. They'll cost families $720 per year and they won't work.
The package I put forward yesterday is a package where it's not families who are paying a new tax, it's big polluters who are paying a price for every tonne of carbon pollution they put in our atmosphere. This package will work to cut carbon pollution. That's the difference.
JOURNALIST: But at the same time taxpayer's money is being paid to polluters?
PM: And we are supporting Australian jobs, as we make this make this transition. If we look at our Australian economy today, what it means is per head of population Australians generate more carbon pollution per head than anybody in the developed world. Now, what that is telling you is that our economy's got a big journey of transition, as we move to a clean energy future.
So, to get on that journey of transition means we've got to put a price on carbon and get the around 500 biggest polluters to pay that price.
It also means we've got to work with industry as they adapt to that change and protect Australian jobs and so we are providing assistance to the coal industry, to steel, to manufacturing, to industries that are emissions intensive and take the world price - that is they trade in the world system. We're doing that to protect Australian jobs, that's absolutely the right thing to be doing.
But, let's do the contrast between what the Government is saying and what the Opposition is saying. Under our plan polluters pay, under the Opposition's plan it's families that pay.
Our plan will work to cut carbon pollution, under the Opposition's plan you'll endlessly subsidise polluters as they pollute.
So, contrast couldn't be clearer. Our plan will work to cut carbon pollution.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the price is currently $23 per tonne and at the moment a lot of families may be better off under the plan, but as the price increases will the Government be changing or adjusting the amount that families were being reimbursed to help them with that? I'm sure they have long term concerns.
PM: Yes, the answer to your question is yes, absolutely. The carbon price paid by big polluters will go up, as will the assistance provided to Australian households - that will go up too.
So, the assistance will be permanent and it will increase over time, so that it matches the carbon price.
JOURNALIST: How difficult do you think it's going to be to sell this package to the electorate?
PM: I'll be out explaining it, David will be here in his community explaining it, we'll be explaining it right around the country. This is the right package for our nation's future.
We will deliver it on 1 July next year and of course I'll be explaining it to Australians around the country in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
JOURNALIST: You say the tax is budget neutral, if not what areas would come under, what would be looked at to take money away from?
PM: We'll do new complete accounting when we publish the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, but the Government has shown by the work we've done at the recent budget and during the election campaign and before that, that we've run a budget where we found savings.
So, the budget is coming back into surplus in 2012-13 exactly as promised.
JOURNALIST: Are there any areas that you've highlighted though that would be (inaudible)?
PM: Well, we've worked through for prudent savings in the past and we'll do it again, but the budget's coming back to surplus in 2012-13.
JOURNALIST: Now, David's a big passionate supporter of the carbon tax, you know that. Out of everywhere in Australia where you could have come this morning, what has brought you to Emu Plains?
PM: Well, I always like coming out and visiting David and his community and I wanted to come and have a chat with a wonderful family and had the opportunity to do that.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) shopping malls and street walks and slightly more spontaneous (inaudible)?
PM: I actually do a lot of street walks, a lot of out and about with the Australian people. I don't always take my friends from the media with me, but of course we'll be talking to Australians in all sorts of circumstances.
JOURNALIST: I just had a question, it was 160 million tonnes, was that per year, or was that by 2020?
PM: That's the figure in 2020, in the year of 2020.
JOURNALIST: By 2020?
PM: In the year of 2020.
JOURNALIST: Within that 12 months?
PM: That's right.
JOURNALIST: So what before then?
PM: Well, obviously, you'll start to see change. I mean, I believe the race has already started, businesses will have watched the announcements made yesterday, they will have watched what I said yesterday that there is a carbon price, that will be paid by big polluters from 1 July next year. So, smart business people aren't simply going to sit there waiting for 1 July next year twiddling their thumbs, they're going to be saying to themselves from today on ‘what can I do in my business to cut the amount that I'll have to pay when this price comes into effect on 1 July', they'll already have started the smart thinking we need to reduce carbon pollution.
Thank you very much.
JOURNALIST: David Bradbury, how concerned are you about losing your seat because of the carbon tax?
DAVID BRADBURY: You gave me an extra per cent, a bit earlier. It's only 1.2 per cent. So, I should invite you back more often.
But, look, can I say that everything we do in politics has consequences, but the consequences that I'm more concerned about are the consequences for my children and my children's children.
When an overwhelming majority of scientists tell us that we need to act, and an overwhelming majority of economists tell us that the way to act is to price carbon, then frankly it would be negligent for us to do anything other than what we are doing, and that is to price carbon.
We are doing this, not because we want to hurt people, we are doing it because we know that in the future we need to secure our energy for the future. It needs to be a clean energy future and the best way for us to do that is to send a price signal to the big polluters, to do what you do differently, so that you don't have to pay for pollution, stop polluting and in doing so you too will join us in being a part of a clean energy future.
JOURNALIST: So, David you'd lose your seat for your children's future then?
DAVID BRADBURY: Look, as I said, there are consequences that flow from everything that we do, or we chose not to do in politics, but we are determined to do this because it is the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do because all of the concern about cost of living today will become concerns about a cost of living and a lack of standard of living in the future if we don't act.
It's important that we act, so that we can drive a clean energy future and I'm very pleased to get out there on the ground in my community and to explain to people why this is needed and why this is the best way for us to tackle action on climate change.
And whatever consequences flow from that, we'll deal with them when we deal with them. But in the end I'm elected to represent my community, its best interests and to get out there and to make the decisions that I believe are right and I've never been more convinced of the correctness of a course of action that we're embarking upon than now.
Thank you.