Mr COMBET (Charlton—Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) (14:17): I do thank the member for Corangamite because he knows an awful lot more about representing working people than the Leader of the Opposition. I bet the Leader of the Opposition fought hard in the Howard cabinet against Work Choices! Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: The House will come to order! Not all members are involved in the mayhem, and on behalf of those members I think the others should sit quietly so that the proceedings can actually be heard. The minister has the call; he should be heard in silence. Mr COMBET: Thank you, Mr Speaker. This morning, 13 of Australia's most prominent economists, including the former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank and a number of financial market economists, came out strongly in support of a carbon price. In an open letter, the economists declared that a price on carbon pollution is 'a necessary and desirable structural reform of the Australian economy'. Westpac's Chief Economist, Bill Evans, who was a signatory to the letter, had this to say: The move to more efficient, cleaner energy through a well designed market mechanism to price carbon is a major and desirable structural and economic reform which will help Australia competitively position in a global low carbon economy. These are important and well-respected economists who are expressing what really should be obvious common economic sense. It is astonishing that this is a contested issue in national politics. The government is of course committed to taking action on climate change by introducing a carbon price, and we have made clear that more than half the revenue from the carbon price will be used to assist households—in particular, low- and middle-income households—with any price impacts they may face. As the Prime Minister has indicated, one option for delivering that household assistance is to provide tax cuts and increased payments to pensioners and others. Of course last night the Nationals Senate leader, Senator Joyce, confirmed that a coalition government would repeal any tax cuts, pension increases and household assistance measures provided under the carbon price. This is what Senator Joyce had to say: ... of course we've said from the outset that we would not introduce a tax and we'll repeal it if it comes in, and of course if you're repealing the tax, you're repealing the mechanisms that go with it. Clear and unequivocal—Senator Joyce has confirmed that the coalition would in effect impose a double whammy on pensioners, on families and on ordinary householders. Firstly it would scrap the tax cuts, increases in the pension and increases in family payments introduced by the government, and secondly it would increase taxes by up to $720 a household— Mrs Bronwyn Bishop interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Mackellar! Mrs Bronwyn Bishop interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Mackellar is warned. Mr COMBET: to raise the money that it needs for its subsidies-for-polluters policy, which of course will pay billions of taxpayers' funds to the largest polluters in our economy. We have had today a range of expert economists from major banks, think tanks, universities and the financial services sector all backing the government's plan to price carbon. But the opposition have not been able to find one credible economist, not one at all, to back their subsidies-for-polluters policy. Their policy has no credibility whatsoever; it will simply impose a massive burden on Australian households.