You remember Tony Abbott’s warnings of a “great big new tax” on everything?
You remember him touring supermarkets, pie makers and trucking companies, warning how the carbon tax would dramatically increase the cost of living for ordinary Australians. You remember this because he spent years doing it. You remember this because it was the main reason he came to govern the country.
Well, here’s what the Australian Industry Group, a pro-business lobby group that has been no great friend of carbon pricing, said in its submission to the repeal of the carbon pricing laws, lodged yesterday:
“The ACCC and the Government more generally should also be aware that outside of energy prices, carbon price passthroughs have been limited and the impacts of repeal will also be limited.
An Ai Group survey earlier in 2013 found that 70% of businesses in the manufacturing, services and construction sectors were unable to pass through any of their carbon-related energy cost increases to customers. The remainder of the sample were able to pass through small amounts of their carbon cost. Across all businesses, just 6% of total carbon costs were estimated to have been passed on to customers.”
The Ai Group has belled the cat. The carbon tax has not amounted to a “great big new tax” on everything.
John Howard and Abbott like to warn of the “alarmism” of experts who say that humanity’s emissions of greenhouse gases are causing serious environmental problems. Abbott’s hysteria over carbon pricing is a much clearer example of alarmism, as the Ai Group statement indicates. He deserves to be called out over this.
And as for his promise that the repeal of the carbon price will lead to a significant drop in the cost of living? If the Ai Group is right, that just won’t happen. Voters should hold Abbott to account over that promise, too.
Indeed. It will be interesting to see whether the electorate picks him up on this.
I agree that the Coalition should be “called out” on its ill-founded and ignorant alarmism. But I also think it won’t happen. The msm has adopted its customary supine position. Murdoch is in town to collect on his support for the Coalition and he is not going to rock the boat. Fairfax media, notwithstanding its front page claim of “independent always” is only marginally better.
The fact of the matter is that the msm is a mouthpiece for vested interests; always has been and always will be.
Now we have this ‘hint’ from the murdockians! Quote: “My tip for (Bill) Shorten is to lie low. Not adopt a small target strategy much beloved of opposition leaders but something altogether different. A no target strategy.
That means assuming anonymity and an almost Trappistine devotion to keeping one’s mouth shut at all times.”
So Tony Abbott lied about the carbon tax. So what else is new? It’s not so long ago that the Howard Liberal government lied about so many issues that cynics labelled his party the “Lieberal Party”, and a website “John Howard Lies” did a roaring trade. Abbott is just keeping up a tradition, and that great flock of sheep, the electorate, just baa, graze and get fleeced once again. Plus ca change…….
The scrapping of the carbon tax had better result in massive price cuts or Abbot be shown as a total charlatan. $200 off my energy bill you said Tony. We’ve had years of this hyperbole and now its time to piss or you’ll be thrown off the pot next election…