Mrs D'ATH (Petrie—Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) (15:33): It is my pleasure to stand up and speak to this matter of public importance before the House this afternoon. What a surprise! Here we go again: the scare campaign. We saw it last year being rolled out by the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, commenting on price rises. In June 2011 we heard that the hit on Australians' cost of living would be 'almost unimaginable', and the Productivity Commission found that if Australia were to impose a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme it would dramatically raise prices to consumers. We heard the Leader of the Opposition saying in August last year in parliament: The thing about the carbon tax is that it … will clean out people's wallets and it will wipe out jobs big time. We heard the Leader of the Opposition saying, in June 2011, on radio 4BC: It will destroy the steel industry, the cement industry, the aluminium industry, the motor industry and it will be, over time, the death of heavy manufacturing in Australia.' That is what we have heard time and time again from the opposition: that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost. The Leader of the Opposition said that 'entire towns, like Whyalla, will be wiped off the map'. And we have heard it again today from the member for Indi. We heard it over the weekend as well. We heard the O'Farrell government carrying on about electricity prices and once again trying to shift the blame onto the carbon price. The fact is that the O'Farrell government should start being honest to householders in New South Wales and acknowledge that the biggest contributor to increases in electricity prices is rising network charges. The question is: when is the O'Farrell government going to actually start doing something about tackling network charges and taking that pressure off households in New South Wales? We are taking the pressure off, because we are providing tax cuts to 2.2 million people across New South Wales and helping nine out of 10 households with household assistance of $10.10 per week. In the past we have also heard from Senator Barnaby Joyce about the $100 leg of lamb. Finally, last night on Q&A there was this question to Senator Joyce: Senator Joyce, in November 2011, you said that citizens would not be happy when they were paying $100 for a roast under the carbon price. Now that the scheme has been in for some six months, this seems highly unlikely. Was your original comment intended to be hyperbole, or were you being deliberately deceptive? Senator Joyce's answer: 'No, I tell you what, um, er, there's a whole range of things.' He went on to say: 'Okay, I agree it is not going to make it $100.' We are really glad that Senator Joyce was able to set the record straight last night—just in case we had not figured it out yet—that lamb roast is not going to go up $100. And of course we have heard all about jobs. We heard the member for Indi talking about jobs today. We heard her saying that Australian jobs are disappearing. And I agree: Australian jobs are disappearing—but not at the hands of the federal Labor government. They are disappearing at the hands of state Liberal and LNP governments all over this country. Campbell Newman is sacking public servants left, right and centre. I cannot do a mobile office in my electorate without someone coming up and telling me they have lost their job because of decisions of the state LNP government. If we want to talk about job losses, let us be honest with the Australian people. We have already heard the shadow Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition saying: 'Elect me. We will make savings by cutting jobs. We will sack public servants.' That is how the opposition supports jobs in this country. We have heard other fear campaigns. Yesterday in the Daily Telegraph we saw the headline, 'Carbon collapse'. You do not want to read past the heading because you would have read that a lot of businesses in the manufacturing sector in Australia acknowledge that the biggest pressure is the high value of the Australian dollar. You do not want to delve into the article to see what it is all about. We saw a further heading today, in the Daily Telegraph, 'Carbon tax is sinking tourism'. About three-quarters of the way through that article it does not state that it is a correction but restates yesterday's Daily Telegraph report and talks about the number of businesses which have closed over a certain period. It is interesting that today's article has different figures based on different time frames. Yesterday it was up until 1 March and today it has figures up to 12 months to 31 December 2012. So, when we talk about the Australian Securities and Investments Commission data showing 10,632 businesses going into voluntary administration, only six months of that crosses over with the carbon price; but they do not want to state that fact. I am happy to talk about the figures from the article yesterday and the number of businesses which have gone into voluntary liquidation or administration over the last 12 months. For 12 months up to 1 March 2013, 10,632 businesses closed, but let us also talk about how, in that 12-month period, 186,583 new companies were registered, according to ASIC figures. If we want to quote figures, let us be honest about those figures. Let us give the Australian people all of the information which is out there about these allegations. I am always in awe of the detailed analysis and research that the opposition put in when deciding their position on a government policy. They get up in the morning, they read the newspaper, they put out a press release and they prepare an MPI. Then they come and argue an MPI based on what they read in the paper that day or the day before. That is what we are talking about. What we see from the opposition is a bit like playing bluff in poker. We have seen the member for Indi today quoting industries and how they say it is all doom and gloom. I say to the member for Indi: I am happy to see her industry group and to raise her an industry group. In recent surveys of businesses the Australian Industry Group noted that it appears the businesses surveyed had overestimated the impact of the carbon price on electricity prices and that these estimates are not consistent with the PPI or CPI estimates. The survey found that most business estimates of electricity price increases were 2.1c to 2.3c per kilowatt hour. This is broadly consistent with Treasury modelling of projected increases in electricity prices of 10 per cent and actual jurisdictional price determinations. The Australian Industry Group highlights that recent electricity prices have mainly been driven by increases in network costs and that this will continue to be a source of upward pressure on electricity costs. I call on the opposition to start quoting those Industry Group comments as opposed to the ones they bandy around in this House all too often. We have heard the member for Indi talking about insulting businesses. I agree: it is an insult to businesses for members of the opposition time and time again to come in here and start twisting the words of businesses on why they have shut down part or the whole of their business. We heard it again today on the Penrice closure. On 18 January 2013, Penrice announced it would cease production of soda ash, partially cited in the introduction of a carbon price. What the member for Indi did not state is that, when asked whether the soda ash plant would have closed without the carbon price in operation, Penrice's general manager of chemical operations said yes. Dr Southcott: It didn't help. He said it had a major bearing. Mrs D'ATH: 'It didn't help'—that is the contribution of the opposition. Let us be honest with the Australian people about what we are doing. I am happy to stand here and state the facts for the Australian people and the opposition. Since the start of the carbon price on 1 July 2012, 133,500 extra jobs have been created, more than 20 every hour. There have been 118,546 new companies registered, more than 20 every hour. Company share prices have grown strongly with the S&P and ASX200 index up 25 per cent. The economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1 per cent in the year to December. Australia has retained one of the lowest unemployment rates in the developed world at 5.4 per cent. The average weekly earnings grew by 4.6 per cent in the year to December, and business investment has continued at very high levels with almost $270 billion in confirmed investment into Australia's resources industry alone in the pipeline, according to the latest Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics figures. Last week we saw a strong employment result highlighting that 926,000 jobs had been created since the Labor government came into office in November 2007 and that 71,580 jobs were created in the last month—the largest monthly growth in jobs since July 2000. So I am happy to talk about our record. We want to talk about manufacturing. We want to talk about jobs. We know that parts of the economy are experiencing pressures from the high dollar and other structural changes. That is why we are taking action to support jobs through our $5.4 billion new car plan, supporting 250,000 jobs. Through our support for Vodafone, with which we are bringing 750 jobs back to Tasmania from India, we are actually onshoring. The Gillard government is investing $1 billion to grow jobs through our plans for Australian jobs. If we want to talk about the clean energy future package, we can talk about the support that we are giving manufacturers through the Jobs and Competitiveness Program, the support we are giving through the Clean Technology Investment Program and the Community Energy Efficiency Program and the assistance that peak bodies are providing through the Energy Efficiency Information Grants. But let us talk about real examples: Mackay Sugar Ltd. Mackay Sugar is investing over $120 million to reduce carbon emissions across its operations by 70 per cent for every unit of production. There is Crafty Chef of Emu Plains. With the help of nearly $500,000 from carbon pricing revenue, Crafty Chef, a Western Sydney food processor, will install a new commercial blast freezer. This will reduce the carbon intensity of its operations by 54.1 per cent, reducing energy intensity by over 56 per cent and boosting turnover by 150 per cent to $50 million. We have already heard from the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency today in relation to AJ Bush & Sons. They were one of the loudest opponents to the carbon tax and they are now saying, 'You know what? It works, and it puts us at the forefront of energy efficiency and we are leading our industry.' So do not take our word for it. Go talk to these companies. I quoted before the Leader of the Opposition saying that the cement industry will be gone. Does he extend that to asphalt and clay products? Boral Bricks in Queensland are increasing their energy efficiency by 56 per cent and saving over half a million dollars through the Clean Technology Investment Grants. Downer EDI Works have just received a grant from the Gillard government's Clean Technology Investment Program, which means that they will be able to upgrade their plant to manufacture asphalt containing up to 40 per cent of recycled material. This project will allow Downer EDI Works to cut energy costs at the site by $480,000 a year and reduce the facility's carbon emissions intensity by 33 per cent. These reductions will be achieved through cutting-edge processes and technologies that will allow asphalt to be produced at a lower temperature and therefore it will require less energy. So I welcome these industries, small and large across this country, stepping up and seeing the opportunities that come with moving to a clean energy and renewable energies future and becoming more energy efficient in their business. I will finish with this: the member for Indi talked about significant challenges for businesses and about the international pressures. We agree that there are international pressures, and that is why we need to step up and be part of the action on climate change. If we were to see the Clean Energy Future Package ripped up after 14 September, all of these businesses would be left in the lurch. It will set this country back years in relation to our international negotiations for taking action, and all of these companies will be left behind, because they are out there taking the initiative, investing in clean energy, investing in energy efficiency, and the opposition are saying: 'Vote for us and we'll rip the whole lot up.'