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Tuesday, June 26, 2012 8:31:01 PM
Carbon tax 'game changer' coming, says Swan
June 19, 2012
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Treasurer Wayne Swan says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be left in a
‘‘policy cul-de-sac’’ when the carbon tax is introduced. Photo: Andrew Meares
Treasurer Wayne Swan has told his Labor colleagues that July 1 will be a ''game changer'' for the carbon tax.
Today Mr Swan - who is also acting Prime Minister while Julia Gillard is at the G20 meeting in Mexico - said that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would be left in a ''policy cul-de-sac'' when the carbon tax is introduced and his argument that the sky will ''fall in'' is exposed.
Mr Abbott has argued that the carbon tax will ''hurt'' Australians from day one, even though the economic damage may take some time.
Mr Abbott told his Coalition colleagues today that the government was "worried and confused", and repeated his comment that the carbon tax was a "bad tax based on a lie". He said he would travel around Australia in the first fortnight of July to campaign against the carbon tax.
Nationals leader Warren Truss said every Australian industry would be less competitive from July 1 and predicted it would be a "turning point" in the Labor Party's decline.
Today, Mr Swan pointed to the compensation that had already been rolled out to millions of Australian pensioners and families, and advised caucus not to fall for simplistic arguments when explaining electricity price rises to their constituents.
Mr Swan said it wasn't just a result of the carbon tax, telling Labor MPs to look at the recent profits of electricity generators.
This comes as Families Minister Jenny Macklin called on state governments to protect carbon tax compensation to pensioners.
Earlier this month, the NSW government announced that public housing rents would increase.
Today, Ms Macklin said she was extremely concerned about the O'Farrell government's decision, arguing it was taking money from pensioners who live in public housing.
''We want this money to go to pensioners, we don't want it gobbled up by state governments,'' she told reporters in Canberra.
Compensation worth more than $700 million will be paid to pensioners before the carbon price starts on July 1.
During Labor's caucus meeting this morning, Ms Macklin put her Victorian and NSW colleagues on notice to watch out for public housing rent increases. The Schoolkids Bonus - announced in the May budget - will also be rolled out to 1.3 million families from tomorrow.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/carbon-tax-game-changer-coming-says-swan-20120619-20la0.html
========
Warning issued over anti-carbon tax posters
By chief parliamentary correspondent Simon Cullen, ABC Updated June 27, 2012, 3:08 am
The Coalition s campaign is launched just days before the tax comes into effect.
Labor is warning small businesses against displaying the Coalition's anti-carbon tax posters, saying they risk million-dollar fines if the information is found to be misleading.
The Coalition has sent the fliers to bakeries, butchers, dry cleaners and fruit shops just days before the carbon tax is due to take effect.
Labor is warning businesses to be "very, very careful" about being part of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's campaign by displaying the posters in their shop fronts.
"Don't allow him to drag you into his cynical scare campaign because the consequences of that are very serious," Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury told Parliament.
"If you do mislead your customers, then you could face fines of up to $1.1 million."
[hmm .. David .. careful not to go to extremes, i don't expect any small business who displays the sign to be hit with that.]
But the Coalition has rejected suggestions their small business posters are misleading.
"The fliers do nothing more than explain the Government own modelling and policy," Opposition small business spokesman Bruce Billson said.
"This is just another example of the Gillard Government trying to intimidate small business to not pass on or talk about the impact of the carbon tax."
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set up a hotline for members of the public to make complaints about misleading carbon tax claims.
The tactic is a further sign that both sides of politics are preparing to ramp up their campaigning efforts surrounding the tax.
On Tuesday Mr Abbott told a meeting of Coalition MPs that he and other senior party figures would be campaigning "across the country", warning people the tax would push up the cost of living and threaten jobs.
Labor is also preparing a coordinated campaign this weekend to reassure the community about the effects of the tax.
Special Minister of State Gary Gray plans to visit the South Australian city of Whyalla on Sunday - a community Mr Abbott said would be "wiped off the map" because of the carbon pricing scheme.
Mr Abbott visited an RSPCA compound in Canberra on Tuesday to point out that "thousands" of charities would be worse off under the tax despite Government reassurances.
The head of the RSPCA in the ACT, Michael Linke, estimates the cost of the carbon tax will be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 per year for the local organisation.
"At this stage we're not expecting job losses here in Canberra," Mr Linke told reporters at Mr Abbott's media conference.
"There is absolutely no way that I'm going to compromise animal welfare, so we are going to have to shave costs in other areas."
The Government says more than $300 million is available to councils, community groups and charities to help offset the costs of the carbon tax.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard used Question Time to ridicule Mr Abbott's visit to the animal welfare charity.
"I can assure the Leader of the Opposition (that) on July 1, cats will still purr, dogs will still
bark and the Australian economy will continue to get stronger," Ms Gillard told Parliament.
"Presumably tomorrow he will be out trying to scare Skippy the bush kangaroo, and
the day after he'll be out trying to scare Puff the Magic Dragon, and so it will go on."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/14045699/warning-issued-over-anti-carbon-tax-posters/
.. must try to remember to check on Whyalla in six months .. Oh! .. it appears a major union initially made that comment ..
========
Carbon tax 'will destroy' major centres such as Port Pirie and Whyalla
Mark Kenny and Catherine Hockley, Canberra
April 19, 2011 12:00AM
121 comments
The OneSteel plant in Whyalla and the city itself would be at risk by the carbon tax, a union says. Picture: Sam Wundke
THE state's two key industrial cities will be "wiped off the map" by a carbon tax, a major union warns.
The tax would strip thousands of jobs from Whyalla and Port Pirie, the Australian Workers Union state secretary Wayne Hanson said.
The internal revolt from Labor's industrial heartland threatens not just the reform but the Government's survival.
Mr Hanson yesterday stepped up his union's opposition to the tax, claiming the future of both cities would be in serious doubt because both had economies based on the high-emission production of steel, iron ore and zinc.
"Goodbye. They will be off the map," he said.
His opposition to the tax appears to be a calculated manoeuvre by the AWU and follows last week's surprise about-face by the union's national secretary, Paul Howes, who declared the AWU's support would be conditional on absolutely no jobs being put at risk in the steel sector.
The Gillard Government's support base now appears to be fracturing, threatening the future of the Prime Minister's signature reform for this term.
With Whyalla's main employer, OneSteel, and fellow steelmaker BlueScope in Canberra today for talks with the Federal Government over the proposed tax, the fact that such an important union has broken ranks and is openly campaigning against the Government is highly significant.
The AWU, the oldest and most influential union in the ALP, is demanding either an outright exemption for the steel industry or a 100 per cent compensation package.
An estimated 3000 to 4000 jobs are dependent on OneSteel's Whyalla operations alone. The company produces some 1.3 million tonnes of steel per year from its operation there, accounting for around 20 per cent of the national industry.
Adding to Ms Gillard's woes, food manufacturers are now also seeking special treatment.
"We don't oppose a price on carbon, but industry is opposed to a tax that will increase the cost of food and grocery manufacturing in Australia, which is already under intense pressure," the Australian Food and Grocery Council's Kate Carnell said in a statement yesterday.
"Whatever decision is made, the Government must ensure that Australian-manufactured food and groceries will not be made less competitive."
The Government now faces a wall of opponents as groups across the political spectrum from employers and industry bodies, to unions and the welfare sector, seek exemptions or more compensation.
The unpopular tax, which the Government is struggling to sell - not least because it has not designed it yet - is also a factor driving Labor's support into the basement.
The latest Neilsen poll showed Labor at its lowest level in 15 years.
Mr Hanson said union members at Whyalla's OneSteel plant, and at Nyrstar's lead and zinc smelter at Port Pirie were rightly worried.
"It's ridiculous to consider (a carbon tax) when you don't have other countries that are prepared to adopt a common approach," he said.
"To allow your steel industry to disintegrate is just reckless. Should we be the trail-blazer?"
That argument appears to be straight out of Tony Abbott's anti-carbon tax playbook after he called for a people's revolt on the tax on the grounds it would destroy jobs and send investment off-shore.
However, the state Labor MP for Giles, Lyn Breuer, said the Federal Government understood what was at stake.
"Why would the Federal Government send an industry broke, put in jeopardy the jobs of thousands of workers, particularly in my area in Whyalla? ... I'm confident that we'll be able to make some sort of arrangement that will satisfy everyone," she said before acknowledging: "without the steel making operations at OneSteel, the town (Whyalla) would not have a future."
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/carbon-tax-will-destroy-major-centres-such-as-port-pirie-and-whyalla/story-e6frea6u-1226041230581
.. ok .. must try to remember to check back on Port Pirie and Whyalla in 6 months or so ..
June 19, 2012
Assistance Package .. http://householdassistance.fahcsia.gov.au/
See How The Household Assistance Package Will Help Australians.
Treasurer Wayne Swan says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be left in a
‘‘policy cul-de-sac’’ when the carbon tax is introduced. Photo: Andrew Meares
Treasurer Wayne Swan has told his Labor colleagues that July 1 will be a ''game changer'' for the carbon tax.
Today Mr Swan - who is also acting Prime Minister while Julia Gillard is at the G20 meeting in Mexico - said that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would be left in a ''policy cul-de-sac'' when the carbon tax is introduced and his argument that the sky will ''fall in'' is exposed.
Mr Abbott has argued that the carbon tax will ''hurt'' Australians from day one, even though the economic damage may take some time.
Mr Abbott told his Coalition colleagues today that the government was "worried and confused", and repeated his comment that the carbon tax was a "bad tax based on a lie". He said he would travel around Australia in the first fortnight of July to campaign against the carbon tax.
Nationals leader Warren Truss said every Australian industry would be less competitive from July 1 and predicted it would be a "turning point" in the Labor Party's decline.
Today, Mr Swan pointed to the compensation that had already been rolled out to millions of Australian pensioners and families, and advised caucus not to fall for simplistic arguments when explaining electricity price rises to their constituents.
Mr Swan said it wasn't just a result of the carbon tax, telling Labor MPs to look at the recent profits of electricity generators.
This comes as Families Minister Jenny Macklin called on state governments to protect carbon tax compensation to pensioners.
Earlier this month, the NSW government announced that public housing rents would increase.
Today, Ms Macklin said she was extremely concerned about the O'Farrell government's decision, arguing it was taking money from pensioners who live in public housing.
''We want this money to go to pensioners, we don't want it gobbled up by state governments,'' she told reporters in Canberra.
Compensation worth more than $700 million will be paid to pensioners before the carbon price starts on July 1.
During Labor's caucus meeting this morning, Ms Macklin put her Victorian and NSW colleagues on notice to watch out for public housing rent increases. The Schoolkids Bonus - announced in the May budget - will also be rolled out to 1.3 million families from tomorrow.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/carbon-tax-game-changer-coming-says-swan-20120619-20la0.html
========
Warning issued over anti-carbon tax posters
By chief parliamentary correspondent Simon Cullen, ABC Updated June 27, 2012, 3:08 am
The Coalition s campaign is launched just days before the tax comes into effect.
Labor is warning small businesses against displaying the Coalition's anti-carbon tax posters, saying they risk million-dollar fines if the information is found to be misleading.
The Coalition has sent the fliers to bakeries, butchers, dry cleaners and fruit shops just days before the carbon tax is due to take effect.
Labor is warning businesses to be "very, very careful" about being part of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's campaign by displaying the posters in their shop fronts.
"Don't allow him to drag you into his cynical scare campaign because the consequences of that are very serious," Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury told Parliament.
"If you do mislead your customers, then you could face fines of up to $1.1 million."
[hmm .. David .. careful not to go to extremes, i don't expect any small business who displays the sign to be hit with that.]
But the Coalition has rejected suggestions their small business posters are misleading.
"The fliers do nothing more than explain the Government own modelling and policy," Opposition small business spokesman Bruce Billson said.
"This is just another example of the Gillard Government trying to intimidate small business to not pass on or talk about the impact of the carbon tax."
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set up a hotline for members of the public to make complaints about misleading carbon tax claims.
The tactic is a further sign that both sides of politics are preparing to ramp up their campaigning efforts surrounding the tax.
On Tuesday Mr Abbott told a meeting of Coalition MPs that he and other senior party figures would be campaigning "across the country", warning people the tax would push up the cost of living and threaten jobs.
Labor is also preparing a coordinated campaign this weekend to reassure the community about the effects of the tax.
Special Minister of State Gary Gray plans to visit the South Australian city of Whyalla on Sunday - a community Mr Abbott said would be "wiped off the map" because of the carbon pricing scheme.
Mr Abbott visited an RSPCA compound in Canberra on Tuesday to point out that "thousands" of charities would be worse off under the tax despite Government reassurances.
The head of the RSPCA in the ACT, Michael Linke, estimates the cost of the carbon tax will be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 per year for the local organisation.
"At this stage we're not expecting job losses here in Canberra," Mr Linke told reporters at Mr Abbott's media conference.
"There is absolutely no way that I'm going to compromise animal welfare, so we are going to have to shave costs in other areas."
The Government says more than $300 million is available to councils, community groups and charities to help offset the costs of the carbon tax.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard used Question Time to ridicule Mr Abbott's visit to the animal welfare charity.
"I can assure the Leader of the Opposition (that) on July 1, cats will still purr, dogs will still
bark and the Australian economy will continue to get stronger," Ms Gillard told Parliament.
"Presumably tomorrow he will be out trying to scare Skippy the bush kangaroo, and
the day after he'll be out trying to scare Puff the Magic Dragon, and so it will go on."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/14045699/warning-issued-over-anti-carbon-tax-posters/
.. must try to remember to check on Whyalla in six months .. Oh! .. it appears a major union initially made that comment ..
========
Carbon tax 'will destroy' major centres such as Port Pirie and Whyalla
Mark Kenny and Catherine Hockley, Canberra
April 19, 2011 12:00AM
121 comments
The OneSteel plant in Whyalla and the city itself would be at risk by the carbon tax, a union says. Picture: Sam Wundke
THE state's two key industrial cities will be "wiped off the map" by a carbon tax, a major union warns.
The tax would strip thousands of jobs from Whyalla and Port Pirie, the Australian Workers Union state secretary Wayne Hanson said.
The internal revolt from Labor's industrial heartland threatens not just the reform but the Government's survival.
Mr Hanson yesterday stepped up his union's opposition to the tax, claiming the future of both cities would be in serious doubt because both had economies based on the high-emission production of steel, iron ore and zinc.
"Goodbye. They will be off the map," he said.
His opposition to the tax appears to be a calculated manoeuvre by the AWU and follows last week's surprise about-face by the union's national secretary, Paul Howes, who declared the AWU's support would be conditional on absolutely no jobs being put at risk in the steel sector.
The Gillard Government's support base now appears to be fracturing, threatening the future of the Prime Minister's signature reform for this term.
With Whyalla's main employer, OneSteel, and fellow steelmaker BlueScope in Canberra today for talks with the Federal Government over the proposed tax, the fact that such an important union has broken ranks and is openly campaigning against the Government is highly significant.
The AWU, the oldest and most influential union in the ALP, is demanding either an outright exemption for the steel industry or a 100 per cent compensation package.
An estimated 3000 to 4000 jobs are dependent on OneSteel's Whyalla operations alone. The company produces some 1.3 million tonnes of steel per year from its operation there, accounting for around 20 per cent of the national industry.
Adding to Ms Gillard's woes, food manufacturers are now also seeking special treatment.
"We don't oppose a price on carbon, but industry is opposed to a tax that will increase the cost of food and grocery manufacturing in Australia, which is already under intense pressure," the Australian Food and Grocery Council's Kate Carnell said in a statement yesterday.
"Whatever decision is made, the Government must ensure that Australian-manufactured food and groceries will not be made less competitive."
The Government now faces a wall of opponents as groups across the political spectrum from employers and industry bodies, to unions and the welfare sector, seek exemptions or more compensation.
The unpopular tax, which the Government is struggling to sell - not least because it has not designed it yet - is also a factor driving Labor's support into the basement.
The latest Neilsen poll showed Labor at its lowest level in 15 years.
Mr Hanson said union members at Whyalla's OneSteel plant, and at Nyrstar's lead and zinc smelter at Port Pirie were rightly worried.
"It's ridiculous to consider (a carbon tax) when you don't have other countries that are prepared to adopt a common approach," he said.
"To allow your steel industry to disintegrate is just reckless. Should we be the trail-blazer?"
That argument appears to be straight out of Tony Abbott's anti-carbon tax playbook after he called for a people's revolt on the tax on the grounds it would destroy jobs and send investment off-shore.
However, the state Labor MP for Giles, Lyn Breuer, said the Federal Government understood what was at stake.
"Why would the Federal Government send an industry broke, put in jeopardy the jobs of thousands of workers, particularly in my area in Whyalla? ... I'm confident that we'll be able to make some sort of arrangement that will satisfy everyone," she said before acknowledging: "without the steel making operations at OneSteel, the town (Whyalla) would not have a future."
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/carbon-tax-will-destroy-major-centres-such-as-port-pirie-and-whyalla/story-e6frea6u-1226041230581
.. ok .. must try to remember to check back on Port Pirie and Whyalla in 6 months or so ..
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