The Prime Minister yet again stubbornly refused to apologise for her notorious pre-election commitment that “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead”. The next election will now be a referendum on the carbon tax and also on a Prime Minister whose word can’t be trusted.

 

Should the Coalition form a government, repealing the carbon tax will be our first item of business.

 

We can, will and must repeal the tax to take the pressure off prices and to protect Australian jobs.

 

The laws will be repealed, the bureaucracies will be dismantled and the extra costs on power and transport will go.

 

There is a dumb way and a smart way to handle climate change. The dumb way is to make families’ cost of living more expensive and jobs less secure. The smart way is to invest in more trees, better soil and cleaner technology. This will be supported by the Coalition’s $1 billion a year direct action fund.

 

There is a better way on border protection too. For a decade, the Coalition’s policy has been offshore processing at Nauru, temporary protection visas, and the option of turning boats around where it’s safe. It worked before to stop the boats and it can work again.

 

Meanwhile, the government refused to bring its Malaysian people swap legislation to a vote because it knew it would lose with some of its own members abstaining. This would have amounted to a vote of no confidence in the government. Without Malaysia though, the government has no border protection policy. This is yet another humiliating back-down from a Prime Minister who can stand for anything because she believes in nothing.

 

On one key issue, the government has betrayed its own solemn pre-election pledge; on another, it’s totally failed to implement its policy. A government which can’t keep its word or get its legislation through the parliament should resign before the country suffers any more damage.

 

On the weekend, I will be heading north to Cape York with my daughter Frances for volunteer work in an Aboriginal community. I will be labouring on home building sites while Frances will be helping in the local school. It’s a chance to see how Noel Pearson and his team are changing the mindset of local indigenous communities to beat passive welfare.

 

14 October 2011