Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, as a fellow Queenslander, you would realise the importance of this particular matter, especially at this time of the Queensland electoral cycle. During question time today, we heard again and again about the impact of Labor's carbon tax on Australians—on Australians in business, on Australians at play, on Australians at home. Everywhere, this pervasive tax is going to impact upon their lives.

The passage of the carbon tax through the House of Representatives has certainly been one of the most bizarre events in Australian political history. A government bereft of legitimacy, cobbled together out of expediency and self-interest, without a mandate, imposed the will of a very few on the entire nation. After that we saw the government congratulating itself for imposing this tax on the businesses and families of Australia. Today again we see them congratulating themselves on imposing upon Australia's great mining industry another round of new taxes. Labor seemingly only take pleasure out of new taxes, out of inflicting pain. They have done it at least 20 times since elected to office—20 new taxes imposed upon the Australian economy. They have done all this, congratulating themselves with great hubris. As the carbon tax went through the Australian parliament we even saw the Prime Minister hugging the member for Griffith. How bizarre was this tax that brought those two people together in a rare display of harmony?

There was no thought in all this rejoicing about the deception and betrayal of the Australian people through this legislation. There was not a sombre thought for the mums and dads in living rooms across the country who are worried about the impact of this extra cost on everything they are going to buy. There was no concern demonstrated for the Australian jobs that were placed in real jeopardy—thousands of Australian jobs—because this tax makes Australian industry so much less competitive. There was no concern about the risk to jobs in Queensland, such as jobs in the mining industry—which have now been put at even greater risk as a result of the imposition of the mining tax—along with jobs in the minerals processing sector, jobs in the foundries, as we heard in answer to a question in question time today, jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry and jobs in agriculture. These are the economic pillars of Queensland, and they are all under assault by this government's carbon tax and by its lack of concern about the people who work in those industries and the important and vital role they play in building a strong Queensland and a strong Australia.

This was no ordinary carbon tax. This was no carbon tax in keeping with things happening in the rest of the world. This is by far the world's biggest carbon tax. There is nothing in its league anywhere else in the world. The Australian carbon tax will raise more money in its first three months than the Europeans have raised since they started their tax six years ago. Australia is responsible for about 1.3 per cent of global emissions and the Europeans for 14 per cent. Yet our tax, in just three months, will collect as much money as the Europeans have collected in six years. It will keep going up and up and up from then on. The European price keeps going down and down and down. The legislation which this government is boasting about, which it so gleefully celebrated in this place and in the other chamber just a few months ago, guarantees that the Australian carbon price will go up, up, up, even though the global price is going down, down, down. That indicates this government's comprehension of economics and the impact that has on ordinary Australians.

The people resent the unseemly hooting, hollering and high fives in the House of Representatives at that time. It just shows how out of touch Labor really is with the households of Australia. On Saturday the people of Queensland will have an opportunity to pass judgment, and they can do it quietly at the ballot box. I have got no doubt that they will be sending a message of judgment not just to the Queensland government—which have been willing supporters of this tax, in spite of the fact that they know something of its impact on the Australian economy—but also to Labor federally. They do not want the carbon tax any more than the people of New South Wales want this tax. When there is retribution passed on the government in Queensland, that will be a message not just to Labor and its failures in that state but to the federal government that the people of Queensland do not want this tax.

There is more. Today, electricity generators exposed the government's carbon tax attempts to gouge funds to prop up this year's budget, lumping industries and consumers with upfront costs. Matthew Warren at the Energy Supply Association belled the cat when he said:

… industry is deeply concerned that the design features of the carbon pricing mechanism are being influenced by Budget revenue considerations. They should not be.

He went on to say:

… as the carbon price is a mechanism to reduce emissions – not raise revenue – its design should not be compromised by revenue considerations.It would be especially unfortunate if such considerations imposed extra costs on the energy industry and ultimately energy consumers.

But that is exactly what this government is proposing to do. They want to fill up some of their budget black hole by forcing the electricity industry to buy carbon permits early, in 2012-13. They want this money to be brought forward so that they can deliver a wafer-thin budget surplus, theoretically, in just a couple of months time. So there will be more than just the 10 per cent hike for families in the first year of the tax; it will be 10 per cent plus, because the government are insisting that the electricity industry buy some of these permits early.

Let us also have a bit of a look at what is going to happen in Queensland. It is perhaps a little curious that the Queensland Competition Authority, which sets electricity price increases in the state, will release its next recommendations on 30 March, after the Queensland election. I wonder whether Anna Bligh chose her election date so that she would not have to deal with the news associated with what the Queensland Competition Authority is going to say about electricity prices. Following the experience of New South Wales, we can expect increases of 10 per cent or more from 1 July—but it will be more than that, as a result of the impact of the carbon tax and the fact that the federal government is bringing forward their obligations.

Once upon a time Queensland boasted about its low-cost and abundant electricity. It was one of the major advantages that Queensland had in attracting industry from around the world—low-cost and abundant electricity. But, under Labor, electricity prices in Queensland have soared by almost 60 per cent in the last five years. That is only a taste of what we are going to get in the future as the carbon tax starts to bite. One of Queensland's natural advantages will be destroyed by a Labor government determined to tax the coal industry, electricity generation industry and then, of course, every element of transport, consumption and manufacturing in the state. You do not need to be a mathematical genius to be able to figure out what this government is up to. It is desperate to deliver a wafer-thin budget surplus in a few months time, and it has not got the money.

Labor's carbon tax is a job killer. It is affecting every community and causing grave concern across the nation. Families will still be reaping the cost that it imposes on Australian households way after the memories of compensation have gone. Incidentally, the compensation will be made this financial year—early, so that it also does not have an impact on next year's budget figures. The artificial, dodgy surplus that Labor is seeking to conspire has simply been dreamed up with absolutely no real benefit whatsoever.

This tax will have a particular impact on Queenslanders. We already know that local government has said that the carbon tax will add around $200 million to the cost of garbage disposal every year. Electricity bills will increase the cost of education by $57 a student and the costs for hospitals will increase by $100 million a year. Queensland Rail reports that the carbon tax will add $5 million to its costs and so add to rail fares. Of course, grocery costs will be up by five per cent. The 7-Eleven stores say that it will wipe five per cent off their gross profits. Westfield are already including a carbon or greenhouse gas emission charge in their leases. These are costs that Queenslanders will have to bear. So it is not just the minerals and the minerals processing sector that will suffer, although we have heard the leaders of the aluminium industry, in particular, say that Queensland will have the most taxed aluminium industry in the world. We have heard them talk about their inability to compete with industries in other parts of the world because of the ever-present and increasing cost that Labor is determined to impose upon them.

But it is not just these industries alone which will be affected. The Queensland tourism industry will pay a hefty toll. It has been tough enough for people to make a go of tourism in Australia over recent times. But Labor's carbon tax will be felt particularly hard by the Australian tourism industry. If someone wants to have a holiday in Cairns, the Gold Coast, the Whitsundays or the Sunshine Coast, they will have to pay the carbon tax on their air fares, their bus fares and their train fares. Labor will be imposing this tax on the domestic tourism industry. However, if you choose to have your holiday in Bali, Phuket, Fiji or Honolulu, you will not have to pay the carbon tax, even though, obviously, a trip to Bali or Honolulu will have a much higher carbon footprint than a trip to Cairns or the Gold Coast. So this carbon tax is just that—a tax. It has nothing to do with climate reform, let alone being climate friendly; it is just another Labor Party tax.

What about the agriculture sector? It is another area that is a pillar of the Queensland economy. Let us look at abattoirs. They say that they will have an increased cost of $60 million, which will be required for investment in order to meet the carbon tax requirements. Australia's biggest abattoir at Dinmore will be slugged $3.3 million a year when the carbon tax is introduced. There was a report in the paper at the beginning of the year which said that abattoirs around Australia, but particularly in Queensland, were likely to close for several weeks a year so that they can stay under the 25,000-tonne carbon tax trigger. Is it any wonder that the people of Dinmore, around Ipswich, are starting to question why they have been voting Labor all these years? Is it any wonder that they are wondering why the party that was supposed to be for the workers is now so much against the workers and is putting their jobs at risk?

Labor keep telling us that we do not have to worry about any of this because only the 500 biggest companies are going to pay. Labor will never give us a list of these 500 companies. Where are they? Who are they? That is not information that the Labor Party are prepared to share with the Australian people. But the facts are that that statement is simply untrue. At least 100,000 companies are going to pay higher fuel taxes. Every business in Australia will have higher costs as a result of the impacts of this tax being passed on. This is going to have a particular impact on regional communities, where most of the mines exist and the mineral processing is actually occurring. But that does not worry the Labor government. In fact, it is of even less concern to the Greens. The Greens' Senator Sarah Hanson-Young dismissed all the people who are going to lose their jobs in regional communities. She said:

… small towns that are based on fossil fuels probably won't exist.

That is the amount of sympathy they get from the Greens, and we all know that the Greens run this agenda and that Labor is just trotting along. It does not worry her that there will be no coalmining towns, no mineral processing, no jobs and no royalties to pay for the environmental programs and other things that the Greens want so much. She does not care. As we know, the Greens rule in this country and Labor simply follows.

An outcry will ring out across Queensland on Saturday. Take a whiff of the winds of change. Labor is simply on the nose. History will damn this generation of Labor governments, both federal and state, and there will be a special place in the annals for this Prime Minister, who is condemned by her own words. The people will savour their day of judgment. (Time expired)

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