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

'There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead'—that was the solemn pledge made by the Prime Minister five days before the last election. Yet, in a few days time we will have the world's biggest carbon tax. There is no doubt that this new toxic tax will have massive implications for our electorates in terms of the economy, household budgets and jobs.

So many local businesses have raised their carbon tax concerns with me, as late as today. The company NT Ice, a manufacturing company that uses R22 refrigerant, currently pays a price of $111.38 a kilo for that refrigerant. It already received a 20 per cent increase on 13 June. However, on 9 July it will be increased again to $384.69 a kilo, which will be another 245 per cent increase. How can businesses cope with these sorts of increases? In a letter dated 6 June 2011 from their supplier, Heatcraft Australia, NT Ice were told 'the refrigerants market is moving through a period of unprecedented change. Heatcraft Australia has recently been advised of significant increases in our costs of refrigerants, which prompts the need to increase our refrigerant list prices. We expect price volatility could continue in the coming months.' We know what is causing this uncertainty— (Time expired)