Carbon tax anger boils over: protesters heckle Gillard
Yahoo!7 and agencies October 12, 2011, 3:21 pm
A stream of angry anti-carbon tax protesters were escorted from question time in federal parliament this afternoon after they jeered at Prime Minister Gillard.
Disgruntled over the today's momentous passing of 18 lower house bills relating to the carbon tax, Gillard was interrupted four times by protesters in the public gallery.
Shouting "no mandate, democracy is dead", another heckler amongst the group yelled out "liar".
One man was seen with a shoe in his hand but replaced his footwear before being ejected.
About 80 spirited protesters were then led out of parliament house.
Protesters are escorted from question time after heckling Prime Minister Gillard today. Source: AAPCarbon tax legislation passes Lower House
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd savoured a moment of victory as the government's far-reaching emissions trading legislation passed the House of Representatives this morning, sparking jubilation and relief on the Government benches.
Labor and independent MPs broke into applause as the hotly-contested bills passed the Lower House by 74 votes to 72 after weeks of debate.
Amid the celebrations, there was a show of public solidarity as Mr Rudd planted a kiss on the cheek of Ms Gillard, the person who took his job and, by some reports, the person whose job he wants back.
While the government celebrated Coalition MPs sat stony-faced on the opposition benches, only becoming animated during the Gillard-Rudd embrace.
Opposition families spokesman Kevin Andrews was apparently not impressed, later tweeting: "Kevin Rudd kissed Julia Gillard after the carbon tax vote - reminds me of a bloke called Judas!"
The bills will now go to the Senate next month. They will pass with the support of the Greens, and the legislation will come into force on July 1 next year.
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Mr Rudd was close to introducing an emissions trading scheme (ETS) in 2009 but hit a roadblock in the form of an uncooperative Senate and later, the new Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
This time around the government knows the 19 carbon tax bills will sail through the upper house by November 21, with the support of the Australian Greens.
And that explains the celebrations, which saw Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd exchange pecks on the cheek
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ACCUSATIONS FLY AS CARBON BILLS PASS
Earlier, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott traded barbs about each other's honesty.
Opposition leader Mr Abbott has "pledged in blood" to repeal the carbon tax laws if he forms government, despite the certainty of any such move being blocked in the Greens-controlled Senate.
The climate bills had majority support anyway, but the Government's position was boosted last night when Opposition frontbencher Sophie Mirabella was thrown out of the House for 24 hours for defying the speaker.
The legislation passed through the House of Representatives as expected this morning to applause from the Government benches, with Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd hugging Ms Gillard as MPs mingled on the floor of the chamber.
Hitting the airwaves ahead of the vote, Mr Abbott again raised Ms Gillard's promise before the last election not to introduce a carbon tax, accusing her of betraying the Australian people.
"We have a Prime Minister who is the great betrayer of the Australian people. She was absolutely crystal-clear before the last election - 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead,'" Mr Abbott told AM.
But Ms Gillard hit back on the honesty question, bringing up a "cast iron" promise Mr Abbott made before the 2004 election not to raise the Medicare safety net threshold.
Mr Abbott's promise that "That is an absolutely rock solid, ironclad commitment" was broken in 2005.
Ms Gillard this morning questioned the reliability of Mr Abbott's word: "Guess what, immediately after being elected he changed the Medicare safety net."
On AM, reporter Sabra Lane asked Mr Abbott if he would put his pledge to repeal the legislation in writing.
"We can repeal the tax, we will repeal the tax, we must repeal the tax," Mr Abbott said.
"I am giving you the most definite commitment any politician can give that this tax will go. This is a pledge in blood. This tax will go.
"No parliament can bind its successor. It's a fundamental principle of Westminster democracy that no parliament can bind its successor."
But with the Greens holding the balance of power in the Senate, the legislation will not be repealed unless Mr Abbott, if he wins government, calls a double dissolution election and wins a majority of Senate seats.
That would give the government the potent strategy of campaigning on "a vote for the Coalition means a vote for two elections".
But Mr Abbott insisted the climate legislation will be repealed: "We will repeal this tax. We will dismantle the bureaucracy associated with it."
CARBON TAX A SIGNIFICANT DAY, SAYS PM
Prime Minister Gillard proclaimed the expected passing of her carbon tax through parliament's lower house as a significant day for Australians.
But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has accused the prime minister of being the "great betrayer" of the Australian people.
The government's package of 19 bills, setting up a carbon pricing regime from July 1, 2012, will clear the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning.
"Today is a significant day for Australians and the Australians of the future who want to see a better environment," Ms Gillard told the Seven Network.
The prime minister defended the government's selling of its carbon tax, which opinion polls show is opposed by a majority of voters.
"When there is a significant change like this one, we have to keep explaining it," Ms Gillard said, adding there was information for people to absorb.
Ms Gillard also defended the timing of the tax's introduction amid concerns about the global economy.
Delaying carbon pricing until 2015 would cost $5 billion more, she said.
"So delay is costly, now is the time to act and this parliament, this House of Representatives, is going to act today."
The prime minister stressed the carbon tax would apply only to the nation's biggest polluters and that most households would be compensated for any price rises.
Ms Gillard took aim at Mr Abbott's opposition to the carbon tax and his vow to repeal it if the coalition won government.
"For Tony Abbott, this is all about the politics and political theatre," she told ABC Radio.
"We should not take his assertions about repeal seriously, they don't serve to be believed."
But Mr Abbott is emphatic the carbon tax will be repealed by the coalition.
"We will repeal this tax, we will dismantle the bureaucracy associated with it," he said.
Mr Abbott described the likely passing of the carbon tax through the lower house as "a day of betrayal".
"I think we've got a prime minister who is the great betrayer of the Australian people," he said, adding the parliament had no mandate to introduce a carbon tax.
The opposition leader predicted the cost of living of every Australian would increase as a result of the carbon tax and everyone's job would be less secure.
He reiterated his plan to repeal the tax if the opposition wins government.
"We can, we will and we must," Mr Abbott told the Seven Network.
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said his party could take "a great deal of credit" for the carbon pricing package.
"Australia is going to be all the better for it," he told ABC Radio.
Senator Brown dismissed Mr Abbott's vow to repeal the tax, saying his "pledge in blood" would be thwarted by growing support for the Greens.
"The Australian people, in the main, want this reform and value it," he said.
Senator Brown said he would visit the lower house on Wednesday morning to witness the vote.
The government's job of pushing its legislation through the lower house will be a little easier following the suspension from parliament of Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella.
The Victorian MP will be required to sit out the vote and other proceedings on Wednesday.
Nationals senate leader Barnaby Joyce said her 24-hour suspension would take pressure off the government.
"These things happen," he told reporters, adding it was a mistake by Ms Mirabella.
"I'm not here to persecute Sophie Mirabella. Everybody makes mistakes."
Senator Joyce said the carbon tax would have no effect whatsoever on the environment.
"It is a gesture that is going make you poorer," he said.
Senator Joyce wheeled out a trolley which contained forms from a National Party survey of more then 5,000 people in the rural NSW electorates of independents Tony Windsor (New England) and Rob Oakeshott (Lyne).
Nearly 90 per cent of people in New England were against the carbon tax as were 87 per cent in Lyne, the survey found.
Nationals senator John Williams said it was a clear message to the two independent MPs.
"And the message is simple - if you vote for this carbon tax the people will have their say at the next election.
"These seats do not belong to the politicians, they belong to the people."
Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt accused the government of limiting free speech on the legislation during debate on Tuesday night.
Labor denied Liberal and Nationals MPs the opportunity to table 4,500 submissions against the tax, he said.
"They also denied the ability of Liberal Party and National Party members to table petitions against the carbon tax," he told reporters.
Labor backbencher Stephen Jones said the passage of the climate change bills in the lower house was a "historic day" for Australia.
"But it is also a day when we put in one of the biggest assistance packages for the steel industry since the Second World War," the Illawarra region MP told reporters.
Mr Jones was critical of Ms Mirabella's behaviour performance in the chamber on Tuesday night.
"If my four-year-old acted like that, he would get more than 24 hours," he said.
Greens senator Richard Di Natale said the carbon tax vote showed that the parliament was working well.
"It's an example of how minority government can achieve some really good things," he told reporters
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