Senator CORMANN (Western Australia) (14:26): The minister's answer raises a further supplementary question. Why is the Gillard government so intent to press ahead with the world's biggest carbon tax when it imposes an increased cost burden on 23 million Australians, which is five times higher than the overall cost burden imposed on more than 500 million people in Europe. Is the government really so out of touch to think that no amount of additional taxation in Australia will have an impact on our economic fortunes and on our cost of living?