Transcript: Interview with John Stanley (PDF - 184 KB)

wheat, you get a contract for delivery. It's exactly what we do, but we'll be
buying the lowest cost way of reducing emissions in this country.
It's actually very simple, it's what happens in many circumstances in many
issues, many commodities around the world.
JOHN STANLEY: Yeah so you'd hope to start that middle of next year?
GREG HUNT:
First of July 2014 and the big test between now and then, the country voted for
a change of government, one of the fundamental elements arguably the
fundamental element was the issue of the carbon tax, it was set out expressly in
the first and last weeks of the election by Tony Abbott as the central
referendum item.
We would expect that the ALP will listen to the public and not stand in the way
of lower electricity prices and not stand in the way of a system which would
directly reduce emissions, rather than hope that jacking up the cost of living
and jacking up the cost of electricity will cause so much pain that people will
suffer.
JOHN STANLEY: And by the time we get to the next election you'll be able to point - you would
hope if you can get it in by the middle of next year, and you'll have two years
of operating. You'll be able to point some substantial reductions in emissions
that you'll be able to demonstrate flowing from your plan?
GREG HUNT:
Yes and of course we should be judged on that, so I fully expect to be the
person that's judged on that. The thing that we do need to happen is for the
ALP to respect the mandate of the people, your listeners, they voted. Some
would have voted one way some would have voted another, but pretty clearly
we've had as big a result as any since 1977, apart from that 1996.
So in other words, in eleven elections this has been the second best result, the
second most comprehensive result. So you would hope that they would say,
this is the ALP, that the government of Australia changed, and just as we
respected the mandate to repeal workchoices in 2007, they should respect their
mandate to repeal the carbon tax.
JOHN STANLEY: Right, and on the science of climate change, you've talked to Tony Abbott
about this, is he at one with you on this in accepting the science as well?
GREG HUNT:
Yes he is, there's a lot of mythology here, on the floor of the house in I think it
was June, Tony Abbott was asked a question about accepting the science. It
was a curious thing which involved Rob Oakeshott, and he got up and made a
very very clear statement that he accepts the science, we just disagree on the
carbon tax.
Because emissions go up on the one hand, but electricity prices also skyrocket
so it doesn't do the job. That's the critical thing here, it doesn't do the job but
boy it causes a lot of pain along the way.
JOHN STANLEY: All right, Greg Hunt as always great to talk to you and I'm sure we'll have more
conversations along these lines over the next three years. Thank you for your
time today.