Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak about the carbon tax, the Australian Labor Party's ongoing support for this growth-destroying measure, and the blatant hypocrisy that drives Labor's representatives in the Northern Territory to continue to support this clearly unpopular tax.

I begin by reminding members opposite of the outcome of the September election—you lost. It was an election which was as much as anything a referendum about the carbon tax. It saw the Labor government—the divided, dispirited, diabolical Labor government—swept from office and the coalition returned to the Treasury benches to clean up the unholy mess that Labor left behind.

The Australian electorate and the voters in Solomon sent a very clear message: they wanted the carbon tax repealed; they wanted the mining tax repealed; and they wanted to get the economy going again, without the constraints of Labor's egregious revenue measures. This message could not have been clearer. This makes the opposition's response to the electorate's very clear statement in September all the more bewildering. Labor has chosen to ignore not only the community but to blatantly disregard that very clear call for change and to continue as if nothing has happened. Well, something has happened. Leader of the Opposition, member for Lingiari, Senator Peris, something has happened—you are now on the opposition benches and it is time you took your heads out of the sand, removed your blinkers and acknowledged that the carbon tax's days are numbered. When you have done that, the Leader of the Opposition should get his senators, including Senator Peris, to vote to repeal the carbon tax, because that is what Australians wanted. The Leader of the Opposition and his Senate colleagues are what is standing between taxation relief for businesses and families, a massive boost to the economy and a substantial increase in consumer confidence. What the members opposite have to do is explain to Australians why they do not support lower taxes and lower prices. The member for Lingiari and Senator Peris have to tell Territorians why they refuse to follow the very clear instructions to remove the cost burden of the carbon tax that is placed on every business, every family and every worker in the Northern Territory. This is the most disgraceful display of political arrogance that I have ever seen and each and every one on the opposition benches should hang their heads in shame.

My electorate of Solomon is small geographically, with a higher cost of living than southern states due in part to the tyranny of distance and in part to the failure of both federal and Territory Labor governments. But the carbon tax was an additional cost burden that the majority of hardworking families, the people buying or renting a home, and the thousands of businesses in Solomon should never, ever had to endure. Figures show that organisations in the Territory have been hit with a carbon tax bill of over $66 million. That is $66 million that has gone out of the Territory economy and into the hands of Treasury bureaucrats in Canberra.

By far the largest contribution to the carbon tax rip-off was the Power and Water Corporation, which has taken a $23-million hit. This is the same power and water organisation that has massive financial problems and just last week lost power for up to 12 hours in every home and business between Darwin and Katherine. The last thing Power and Water needed was a carbon tax bill that puts additional pressure on its capacity to deliver services at a competitive rate for Territorians. As well as Power and Water, Santos QNT pay a carbon tax bill of $0.5 million, Newmont pays a bill of $1.5million, and EDL NGD paid $4.6 million carbon tax bill.

What adds insult to injury is that those businesses have been paying the carbon tax and the householders and business operators have been slugged additionally in their power bills, and it does not even work. The carbon tax simply does not work. Despite a $7.6 billion carbon tax bill, emissions for the past 12 months barely changed—by 0.1 per cent. It is an absolute joke.

As I said earlier, while federal Labor were taxing Territorians through the nose, their Northern Territory counterparts were hurting through their incompetence and stupidity. Under Territory Labor, house prices skyrocketed because not enough land was being released to match demand with supply. And, while they were doing that, they racked up record levels of debt that they left for the Country Liberal government to clean up. Does this scenario sound familiar?

So it was with some interest that I noted a speech made by the Labor Northern Territory senator, the new Senator Peris, during the last parliamentary sittings, during which she tried to absolve the former Labor government from blame for cost-of-living issues in my electorate. This scandalous piece of deception deserves a response. The senator's arguments were based on a substantial lie. The senator tried to assert that power price increases brought in by the Territory Country Liberal government to clear up Power and Water Corporation's dire financial state increased power bills by $2,000 a year. This is simply untrue, and the senator should explain where she got those dodgy, deceptive figures from. The increase in average electricity bills for residential customers ranges from $9 to $19 per week based on a total 30 per cent increase that was initially announced late in 2012. This was then revised down to 20 per cent with two additional five per cent increases to follow over the following two years. This equates to an added yearly amount of between $468 and $998 for residential customers—an increase, yes, but not of the size claimed by Senator Peris.

It is also worth noting that pensioners will only pay half the set tariff increases and the community service obligation that stabilises remote and regional power prices has remained unchanged. Power and Water Corporation when presented with the senator's figures responded:

The $2,000 figure … is excessive and non-reflective of the actual tariff increases.

I think that is bureaucratic speak for 'what a load of rubbish'!

The senator went on to claim, using the incorrect $2,000 figure as a benchmark, that only six per cent of recent power price increases could be attributed to the carbon tax. Wrong again. In fact, using the figure of an annual household power bill increase of $468 as a base—the figure supplied by Power and Water Corporation—the actual impact of the carbon tax is closer to 30 per cent.

The senator is new to this place and still has her L-plates on. But that is no excuse for fabricating the facts to support an argument that does not stack up. My advice to the senator is: stop ducking, stop weaving, stop trying to avoid the truth and just get on and repeal the carbon tax. She has the opportunity. She said that she was going to stand up for Territorians, and she is not standing up for Territorians. Territorians want the carbon tax removed. The senator has the opportunity to vote right now to remove the carbon tax and to stand up for Territorians. But what is she going to do? She needs to get on board and vote to repeal the carbon tax. She can do the right thing. The legislation is right before the Senate now. So I call on Senator Peris to be stronger than the member for Lingiari and vote for Territorians. Stand up for Territorians and vote to repeal the carbon tax.