PRICES TO SKYROCKET UNDER CARBON TAX : TREASURY ADVICE
03-April-2011
Treasury documents showing a Carbon Tax of $30 per tonne would cost households an extra $863 a year will come as a huge blow to residents in North East Victoria.
Treasury advice released under Freedom of Information laws show gas and electricity bills will rise 13% and 16% respectively and fuel will jump by 6% under a $30 per tonne carbon tax.
Sophie Mirabella MP, Federal Member for Indi says the tax will make an already bad situation much worse for families.
“People in the North East are at their wits end already and many people simply will not be able to absorb an extra $863 dollars a year,” said Mrs Mirabella.
“These extra costs come on top of 3 years of skyrocketing prices. In the first 3 years of the current Labor Government, electricity prices have risen by around of 38%. To hit people with a tax that will add an extra 16% on top of already expected price rises is just a slap in the face to ordinary working people.
The Government has already made moves to ease people’s anxieties about price rises, but Mrs Mirabella has hit back at Labor’s ‘empty platitudes.’
“I saw Mr Combet and Mr Swan trying to use soothing words yesterday, claiming that no decision has been made on a final price yet, but quite frankly, people have given up listening. We all know that The Greens want a price of around $40 or more, that’s why they rejected Kevin Rudd’s ETS because it didn’t have a high enough price,” Mrs Mirabella continued.
The treasury advice also shows that there is no guarantee Australia’s C02 emissions will be reduced as a result of the tax.
“The most ridiculous thing about this Carbon Tax is that it will not reduce emissions, it will simply send them off shore, along with Australian jobs and you don’t need to take my word for it, take Treasury’s advice.
“There is a much better way to achieve the bi-partisan reduction target of 5% by 2020, and that is through Direct Action. I call on Ms Gillard to listen to the plea of Australian families and drop this job destroying tax,” Mrs Mirabella concluded.