PARLIAMENT, CANBERRA: My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the praise her Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change gave to Mystique printing, a small printing company in my electorate, as being ‘the first Australian printing company to be certified carbon neutral’. Given that this business is carbon neutral, why is the Prime Minister hitting it with a carbon tax that will cost it thousands of dollars in higher electricity, paper and transport costs?
Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (15:08): I would say to the member who asked the question that, once again, this is a misrepresentation by the opposition. I doubt the printing business that he refers to, if it is carbon neutral, is amongst the 500 biggest polluters in this country, so it will not be paying a price per tonne. The question, as it is phrased, is an attempt to mislead the Australian people.
Opposition members interjecting—
The SPEAKER: Order! If I actually knew who had used the expression, I would have asked for a withdrawal. When a question is asked there is an expectation that the response is listened to.
