The courage to be new

Today the Prime Minister addressed the Conference of the NSW ALP at Sydney Town Hall.

From the same platform where, sixty years ago, Ben Chifley said "Fight for the right, and truth and justice will prevail", the Prime Minister spoke of Labor's place in Australian life as a party of reform, a party of ideas and a party of Government.

She urged delegates to prepare to make history again as Labor in Government acts on climate change by putting a price on carbon and said,

"Delegates, democracy is not one long opinion poll.

It is about leadership.

And on climate change, Labor chooses to lead.

We know we must lead because the science says we must.

And friends, we’ve known for an awfully long time.

Bob Carr warned of climate change in this very hall back in 1988.

Even Margaret Thatcher and John Howard recognised the danger and accepted the need to act.

And yet our opponents have the temerity to call our carbon price a toxic tax.

When the only thing that’s toxic is the carbon pollution warming our planet and threatening our children’s future.

Friends, as members of the Labor family, you know all too well that our opponents have thrown everything at us for the past year:

Stunts and gimmicks.

Lies and distortion.

Attacks on our economists and scientists.

A cynical campaign of fear designed to scare Australian families.

And a nonsense of a policy that subsidises big polluters off the backs of ordinary taxpayers.

After all that, I simply say to our opponents: Is that the best you can do?

Because if you think that’s enough to knock us off course, you’ve got another think coming.

We’re still here. We’re still ready to fight for the nation’s future."