Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:00): To the Leader of the Opposition I say that his conduct in this parliament in the first 30 seconds of question time justifies John Hewson's description of him as the 'master of the negative'. That is all the Leader of the Opposition knows. Even his fellow Liberals can no longer stomach his negativity and hollowness. The reason we saw those divisions is that when you stand for nothing it is easy to be divided, isn't it? There is no sense of purpose and no sense of unity, because under this Leader of the Opposition they stand for nothing. Let me say the following to the Leader of the Opposition: I believe climate change is real; I know the Leader of the Opposition does not. I believe that because climate change is real we should have the cheapest and most efficient way of cutting carbon pollution. Economists tell us that the cheapest and most efficient way of cutting carbon pollution is to put a price on carbon— Mr Pyne: What about before the election? The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Sturt— Ms GILLARD: and get the business in our nation that are big businesses and big polluters to pay that price— Mr Pyne interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Sturt— Ms GILLARD: not households and not taxpayers but big businesses that are big polluters. There are fewer than 1,000 of them. Then, because there is a price on that carbon pollution and they can no longer put it up into the atmosphere for nothing, because they are smart business people and because they are driven by the bottom line they will find ways of innovating and changing their business practices— Mr Pyne interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Sturt— Ms GILLARD: so that they generate less carbon pollution. We will use the revenue paid by those big polluters to assist Australian families. We will use it to protect Australian jobs. We will use it to fund programs that tackle climate change. The Leader of the Opposition stands for a proposition that the member for Wentworth has rightly described as one that is expensive for taxpayers and will not work. It is the kind of policy you put forward when you do not really believe in climate change and your main aim is to have a policy that you can fool people with and you can bring to an end very quickly if you were ever required to implement it. Look at the contrasts in our policies. We will require big polluters to pay and give some of that money to Australian families— Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Herbert— Ms GILLARD: whereas the Leader of the Opposition will get Australian families to pay through increased tax and give that money to the big polluters. To the Leader of the Opposition I say that as the Liberal Party increasingly develops a sense of shame about his political tactics— Mr Simpkins interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Cowan— Ms GILLARD: it is now time for the Leader of the Opposition to stop this fear campaign and deal with the issue that confronts this nation and confronts this planet, and that is to effectively tackle climate change.