Rob Oakeshott today announced that he won’t support a plebiscite on a carbon tax before the details of the tax are released.
“Does that mean he will support one once the details of the carbon tax are announced?” said Senator Barnaby Joyce today.
“If he doesn’t that means the people of Port Macquarie, the people of Taree and the people of Gloucester and indeed all the people of Lyne will be denied a chance to have their say on the carbon tax.
“The day that Julia Gillard announced the carbon tax, Rob Oakeshott said that he “would vote for it tomorrow”.1 If Rob Oakeshott can have a vote before the details are released why can’t the people of his electorate have the same privilege?
“Rob Oakeshott talks about acting for the future, but obviously that doesn’t include consultation with those he purports to represent. Surely it is their future he should be most concerned with, not just his own” Senator Williams said.
“Please do not make us suffer this ridiculous little dance which so often happens, in which we know where you are going to end up but you think we are too foolish to understand your machinations. It seems awfully like you have already made your decision to support the carbon tax and now we have to go through this tooth-pulling agony of a charade as we wait for yet another press conference when you stand out the front and tell us something that we probably all guessed months ago” said Senator Joyce.
“The fact is Rob Oakeshott is now one of the most loyal lieutenants of the Australian Labor Party and must accept responsibility for all that they are.”