Rally told carbon policy is an 'assault on farmers'

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has told a crowd of thousands that climate change needs an “intelligent response” with better soils and more trees, rather than a “carbon tax”.

About 3000 “carbon tax” protestors gathered outside Parliament House in Canberra, criticising the Gillard Government’s plans to introduce a price on carbon by the middle of next year.

The protestors held placards saying “Ditch the witch”, “Ju-LIAR, Bob Brown’s Bitch”, “Julia, you’re scaring the carbon out of me”, and “the polar bears are fine”.

One man was spotted wearing a t-shirt which compared Julia Gillard to Hitler.

Coalition MPs addressed the crowd.

“I do not see scientific heretics, I do not see environmental vandals, I see people who want honest Parliament.” Mr Abbott said.

He said he didn’t think the debate was about climate change.

“Climate change happens. Mankind does make a contribution. It’s important to have an intelligent response, not a stupid one,” he said.

“An intelligent response to climate change means more trees, better soils and smarter technology.

“It doesn’t mean a great big new tax.”

Nationals Member for Riverina Michael McCormack drew a comparison between the Murray-Darling Basin water debate and the carbon debate.

He told the crowd that the last time he addressed so many people was at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority meeting in Griffith last year.

“We need to win the water debate, just as much as we need to win the carbon debate,” he said.

“We are now a net exporter of food, and we don’t want to be a net importer of food.

“We also don’t want to be a net exporter of jobs, and the only thing we’re going to be doing if we have a carbon tax is exporting our jobs offshore.

“This is an assault on Australians. This is an assualt on Australian farmers, Australian families, and we do not want it.”

John from near Young, NSW, said he’s lived and worked in rural Australia all his life.

He said he attended the rally because ” this is just another tax.”

“It’s clear that they’re trying to confuse polluting the earth and placing a huge tax on us and the Australian workers.”

NSW independent candidate Pauline Hanson attended the rally, although she said she’d not been invited to speak and was just an observer and supporter.

While the anti-carbon tax debate was strong outside, back at Parliament House, young people from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition were lobbying for action on climate change.

They met with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Mr Abbott and Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne to express their support for putting a price on carbon.

“Young people are the most important stakeholders when deciding climate change policy, as we will be the generation most affected by climate change,” national director Ellen Sandell said.

“The big polluters may have lots of money and paid lobbyists, but we have tens of thousands of young people across the country and they are determined to have their voices heard.”

Earlier in the day, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet was presented with a petition of 10,500 names also calling for action on climate change.

The climate change discussion in Canberra came as the Federal Government’s climate change advisor Professor Ross Garnaut released a new paper on clean technology.

Professor Garnaut wants up to $30 billion spent on low-emissions technologies in the next decade.

He’s called for a boost to low-emisisons technology of $2 billion to $3 billion a year over ten years.

Earlier in the day, the first of the series of rallies protesting against the government’s carbon pricing policy attracted only a few hundred people in Melbourne.

Linda, from Gippsland in eastern Victoria, said she felt passionate enough about the issue to make the trip to Melbourne.

“I think climate change is natural and man contributes very little to it,” she said.

“No matter what they do, the climate will always change, otherwise there’d still be dinosaurs.”