How much will the carbon tax cost you?
Probably not much in the short term, if anything, with the generous compensation measures offered by the government. And it’s not the most interesting question.
The structure of our economy radically changes on July 1. Hundreds of businesses will be taxed directly on their emissions. Thousands more will be impacted by flow-on costs. How they manage and mitigate those costs — and how much investment will be driven into greener ways of doing business — is the real key to this economic transformation.
What 25 journalism students from Bond University investigating the tax’s impact on business quickly discovered was how difficult it is to get answers. And how much we just won’t know until the tax rolls through the supply chain later this year. Their three-month research project — which we begin publishing today — is, as co-ordinator Caroline Graham writes, “their collective best guess at the way industry, the economy, household budgets and our way of life might change post July 1”.
When it comes to the carbon tax, a little demystification and depoliticisation goes a long way.
Today is the first day of my cold turkey so no more comments on this ezine after this, after probably 8 or 9 years of dabbling. I have given an undertaking so this is the last. No more comments until further notice, though I remain a reader. Thanks crikey for the opportunity and your many endeavours, all the best.
Quote from above article “What 25 journalism students from Bond University investigating the tax’s impact on business quickly discovered was how difficult it is to get answers”. Just wait till the Coalition gets into government, this will seem like childs-play.
The difficulty is finding accurate answers/assessments would have anything to do with the nugatory akshal cost on the main polluters. The charges which will be passed on to consumers will be a movable feast, as long as a piece of string.
The only hope for this country is that everyone receiving an electricity bill is both sufficiently numerate and politically aware to be able to discern the difference between cost & charge.
In which case, “poor bugger my country” so blessed in resources so poor in the ability of its governance.
“The structure of our economy radically changes……….”
Really. A carbon tax radically changes our economy!
It’s a huge and radical political reform, but an otherwise not particularly significant economic reform. Electricity bills will go up, a bit. There, problem solved.
It will be as nothing in economic or administrative terms to the introduction of the GST, which covered the vast bulk of the goods and services floating around the economy. It pushed costs up, what, 1% in one quarter SPI figure.
There will be a million try-ons from businesses, but as electricity costs amount to a very small proportion of the total cost of a good or service, it will have little real impact on the day to day, while setting us up for a carbon-reduced economy for the future.
Radically changing the economy? Most of us won’t even notice it.
Harrumph.
Hmmm, CPI figure!