Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:20): To the Leader of the Opposition I say: haven't we heard all this before? Here we are, with the Leader of the Opposition still trying to roll out his tired old fear campaign. In fact, so dusty and so tired is it that today, for his carbon-pricing stunt of the day, he went back to a business that he had been at last September. One can only assume that this is the start of a tour, a tour that will take him to Whyalla, where he will be saying to himself, 'Gee, why is this place still here? I thought it was going to be wiped off the map', that will take him to a coal mine, where he will look and say, 'Heavens! They appear to still be mining coal; I thought all this was going to be shut down', that will inevitably take him to a supermarket— Mr Pyne: Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister was asked about cost of living, which matters to ordinary Australians—and they deserve an answer. She should answer the question. The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The Prime Minister has the call and will refer to the question before the chair. Ms GILLARD: As part of this continuing tired, old, fear campaign there was the Leader of the Opposition today, back at Universal Trusses! Now to the Leader of the Opposition's question: the purpose of putting a price on carbon is to reduce carbon pollution—that is, it has the same purpose as when former Prime Minister John Howard was out arguing for a price on carbon. It has the same purpose as when former opposition leader Brendan Nelson supported a price on carbon. It has the same purpose as when the member for Wentworth supported a price on carbon. It has the same purpose as when the Leader of the Opposition supported a price on carbon. The purpose of putting a price on carbon is to most efficiently reduce carbon pollution generated by the Australian economy, and no amount of fear campaigning from the opposition, no amount of tired old retreads, will change that simple fact. Can I suggest to the Leader of the Opposition that he perhaps consider the words of one of his backbenchers, Dr Washer, the member for Moore, who, I think, very perceptively said: We beat the drum too hard on the carbon tax—everyone has stopped listening to the sound of it. The marrow has gone out of it—we need to move on to other issues. The Leader of the Opposition should listen to his back bench.