Senator CARR (Victoria—Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Defence Materiel) (14:25): I thank Senator Birmingham for his question. As has been indicated on numerous occasions, the amount of money individual businesses would have to pay will of course be very, very small, and the number of businesses that are directly affected by the changes that we are making with regard to making Australia more efficient and more effective in moving towards a low-carbon energy process will be very small indeed. We are also able to remind the Senate that we are providing some $1.2 billion in clean technology programs to assist industries make that transition. This is a critical reform, a critical opportunity for this country to be able to address some of the big challenges we face in the 21st century—the ability to actually adjust to the changing needs in terms of our energy consumption and the opportunity we have to attract the new investment that manufacturing needs to secure the jobs for the future. This is a policy, one would hope, that those who are concerned about the future of this country would embrace. On the contrary, what we have seen is a very, very short-sighted attitude being taken by those opposite, who are not really interested in the preservation of Australian jobs. They are not really interested in providing opportunities for Australians to enjoy the benefits of the high living standards this country can provide, and ought to provide, for every single person in this country. That is the only way in which this country has been able to preserve its prosperity, and its economic security lies in attracting new investment, new technologies, new industries and, of course, the new industrial processes that allow us to look forward with confidence to the future. That is what working people want in this country. They want a secure future, and they will not find that from those on the opposite side.