What is the Federal Coalition’s position on an emissions trading scheme to address climate change?

John Howard, 2007 election: “We have established a committee which recommended the introduction of an ETS. And work is well underway to introduce that by 2011. It will be the most comprehensive ETS anywhere in the world.”

Ron Boswell: “I support [delaying the ETS] as long as we end up voting against it. That’s the thing we’ve to go over the line we’ve got enough people to defeat it if that means we’ve got to wait a couple of months, well fair enough I’m prepared to do that but as long we’ve got enough people to defeat it.”

Barnaby Joyce: “One is not allowed to question any more and one is not allowed to call to question. One has to sort of fall into sort of a lock-step goose step and parade around the office, you know, ranting and raving that we are all as one?”

Dennis Jensen: “The science behind this is dubious, to say the least.”

Wilson Tuckey: “There are no amendments to the ETS that will make it work. By its nature, it is either a simple job destroyer or must be so generous as to fail in its purpose.”

Tony Abbott, 10 July: “I suspect that a straight carbon tax or charge could be more transparent and easier to change if conditions change or our understanding of the science changes.”

Tony Abbott, 24 July: “Opposing the legislation in the Senate ultimately could make poor policy even worse because the government could negotiate a deal with the Greens. Alternatively, after several months in which political debate focuses on climate change and opposition obstructionism, the government could call a double-dissolution election on the issue of who’s fair dinkum about trying to save the planet.”

Malcolm Turnbull, May: “Common sense and prudence, the importance of getting this right, of pursuing a practical outcome that is effective for the environment and does not destroy jobs, demands that the decision on the scheme and on the final design of the scheme should be postponed until after Copenhagen.”

Malcolm Turnbull, July: “Amending the ETS to address these issues will take some time and if the Government ignores these legitimate concerns and insists on a vote on its ETS in its current form on August 13, the Coalition will vote against the Bill. If the Government amends its ETS to put in place these crucial improvements, I will seek, and am confident of obtaining, the support of the Coalition party room for the amended scheme.”

Sometimes we miss John Howard.