Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More than 50 Australian children under the age of 17 drown in Australia. It highlights the importance of swimming and water safety education for all our kids. While many children are learning these important skills, it is alarming that thousands of Australian children are missing out. The Royal Life Saving Society said that cost appears to be a key factor in preventing people from giving their children vital swimming lessons.

This brings me to the Menai Swim Academy in my electorate of Hughes. It is a small business that teaches children to swim. They have a 25-metre indoor pool at Menai. In the first year they will pay $10,000 in carbon tax charges. They simply have no way to reduce their electricity consumption, as the health regulations require them to run their filter virtually all day. If they stay in business, the continuation of Labor's carbon tax will see them pay close to $100,000 in carbon tax charges by 2020. With Labor's carbon tax increasing the cost of swimming lessons for children, this will simply result in fewer children being able to attend swimming lessons, undermining the Australian Water Safety Council's target of reducing deaths by drowning. It is time for Labor to stop denying the damage that the carbon tax is doing to our economy. (Time expired)