George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister seems to believe that the installation of energy saving light bulbs is compensation enough for not-for-profits and charities that are going to get stung by a carbon tax. In particular, enormous costs will be borne by aviation rescue services, such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Rockhampton's Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service and the Mackay based CQ Rescue Helicopter Service. CQ Rescue has estimated that through the increase in aviation fuel and electricity prices alone their carbon tax bill will be around $20,000 per year, which will grow as the carbon tax grows. Back in July the Prime Minister, when confronted by carbon tax concerns from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, referred to a so-called special fund and said that she would cover any impacts they feel from pricing carbon, including direct assistance. However, in the carbon tax documentation entitled Securing a clean energy future not once are the words 'not-for-profit, non-profit, charity or charitable' even mentioned. The Prime Minister has claimed this special fund, set aside for compensating not-for-profits, is contained within the Low Carbon Communities program. The entire Low Carbon Communities program is only $330 million over six years, with at least $30 million and quite possibly $130 million already earmarked for supposed assistance to low-income households. That leaves $300 million at best to be spread across some 600,000 registered not-for-profits in Australia, roughly equating to $83 per not-for-profit a year.

Answering a question of mine in question time last week, the Prime Minister said, 'That's not how it works.' How does it work? The rest of the $300 million will presumably go towards items listed in the program's description in the Clean Energy Future documents. The description does not refer to compensation for not-for-profits. The closest this program comes to helping organisations like CQ Rescue, the Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service and, indeed, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is in undertaking energy efficiency upgrades to community facilities, but installing an energy saving light bulb in the main office is not going to compensate for the increase in aviation fuel costs, which is the main problem, particularly for CQ Rescue, with its estimated $20,000 carbon tax increase. The Prime Minister has been well and truly caught out in this falsehood that she is going to compensate not-for-profits. The problem is that it will be the not-for-profit charitable groups that are trying to help people and save lives that suffer and not her—not that is until we get to the ballot box.

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