MARK DREYFUS MP

After witnessing two weeks of what Tony Abbott has now described as a ''truth campaign'' against the government's plans to introduce a carbon price, Australians could be forgiven for thinking it's not 2011, but 1984.

In the past week, industry leaders, environmental groups, journalists and many other Australians had no trouble in responding constructively to the announcement of a carbon price in Australia.

I fundamentally believe in the public’s right to know as a core principle of good government.

I am proud to be a member of the generation of Australians that saw fit to elect female leaders in offices across the country. And it's fitting that as Australia confronts some of the greatest challenges in the history of our nation, from devastating floods to the global financial crisis to climate change, that we choose our leaders from the very best people, not just the very best men.

Could I make two pleas? First, let's not have any more use of Mackellar's poem as "evidence" for denial of climate change. And secondly, there is other Australian poetry.

As our country contemplates its toughest hour and the effects of yet another extreme weather event in the shape of Cyclone Yasi, Mr Abbott would do well to rethink his own approach to this crisis. Instead of wrecking, he ought to get behind the genuine efforts to rebuild essential infrastructure and get flood-affected regions back on their feet.

It is only by bearing witness and remembering that we can make sure that when we say "never again", we know what we are speaking of. Bearing witness and remembering help us to identify the actions of individuals and the conduct of nations in our own time, as the actions and the conduct we must fight against.

It is in the interest of all Australians that Abbott drops his false claim that the Liberals’ incredibly expensive so-called ''direct action'' plan can achieve anything like the emissions cuts that are needed. As the British and Victorian conservative governments understand, a price on carbon is required to achieve a significant level of emissions cuts.

The Queensland government has done the right thing in announcing a commission of inquiry into the state's devastating floods.

I have returned to Australia with an even firmer resolve to work towards the introduction of a carbon price into our economy, and look forward to seeing the results of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee's work to build parliamentary and community consensus to do that in this term of government.