JOURNALIST: Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, joins us now. Good afternoon Senator.

WONG: Good afternoon to you.

JOURNALIST:  The re-introduction of this bill – are there any changes from the one that went through Parliament last year?

WONG: What we’re introducing is the bill that we negotiated with Malcom Turnbull and Ian Macfarlane that, just two months ago, was supported by the majority of the Liberal party room. And it is a policy which puts a limit on carbon – puts a limit or a cap on the amount of pollution we put into the atmosphere. It makes polluters pay. And it assists families, working families, with meeting any price increases and also gives them money to invest in energy efficiency and the like.

In contrast, we have a scheme today that Mr Abbott has released which is nothing more than a climate con job. A climate con job from a man who simply does not have credibility on the issue of climate change. We know what he said about it. He said, and I quote, that it’s absolute crap, end quote. They are his words. And today he’s confirmed that he has no credibility on this by the release of a policy that is simply a climate con job.

JOURNALIST: But what gives you confidence that this bill will get through? Particularly when we see a different direction from the Coalition?

WONG: Well obviously, this is a tough fight. The Coalition which previously had – under Mr Howard – a policy to support an emissions trading scheme now has a policy which won’t work, which slugs taxpayers, not polluters, and is unfunded. That’s Mr Abbott’s policy is and he’s out there on his own. This is not a position even John Howard took. John Howard, like Peter Costello, like Malcolm Turnbull, believed that an emissions trading scheme like the Government’s legislation was the best way to go.

What we have now is Mr Abbott out on his own with a scheme that won’t work, that ensures taxpayers will have to pay more to help polluters and that, by his own admission, is unfunded. They haven’t said where they’re going to get the money from or what they’re going to cut.

JOURNALIST: Senator Penny Wong, you had a tough time last time trying to get this through. Are we going to see this one successful this time do you think?

WONG: This is a tough fight. There are certainly no guarantees and we’ve been absolutely consistent in our position, but we’ve had quite a number of different views put by the Opposition.

I note Senator Birmingham in fact – when this was last in the Parliament – spoke in favour of supporting the bill that was then the subject of the agreement that Mr Turnbull had been part of.

So we’ve seen a lot of politics played on this and certainly Mr Abbott’s been more focused on playing politics on climate change, than on dealing with this issue which is about Australia’s future. Unfortunately the policy that’s been put forward today really shows he doesn’t care about this issue.

JOURNALIST: Is the difference between the Liberal and the Government’s policy on this the difference between the carrot and the stick approach?

WONG: No, the difference is we’ve got a policy that works. We’ve got a policy that makes polluters pay and that helps working families. They’ve got a policy that doesn’t work, that doesn’t make polluters pay – it makes taxpayers pay – and is unfunded. And there’s no assistance for working families. They are the different points.

JOURNALIST: Thank you for your time Senator.

WONG: Good to speak with you.

ENDS