Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister explain to the House what impact the carbon tax has on the operating costs of Australian businesses? How will scrapping the carbon tax reduce these costs and make Australian jobs more secure?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do thank the member for Forrest for her question and I appreciate her concerns to ensure that every job be made more secure and every business being made more competitive by the abolition of the carbon tax, which is doing enormous damage to jobs security and competitiveness right across our economy but particularly in an energy-intensive state such as Western Australia.

If it is not repeal the carbon tax will go up and up and up: $24 a tonne now, $38 a tonne in 2020, and an almost unimaginable $350 a tonne by 2050.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They are the former government's own figures. If the carbon tax is not repealed power prices will go up and up and up. That is power prices that will damage businesses as well as hurt households. Right now power prices for the average Australian household are $200 a year more than they should be because of the carbon tax. Household costs are $550 a year more for the average household thanks to the carbon tax. But there is a simple way to get power prices down and that is to abolish the carbon tax. That is the simple way to get power prices down to take the pressure off households and to make every worker's job more secure.

As the head of the ACCC said last week, 'What goes up with the carbon tax will come down with the abolition of the carbon tax.' Today there is more good news. The boss of a Alinta Energy, one of the big energy producers in Western Australia, has said, 'Any cost savings associated with the carbon price repeal will be passed on to retail customers by a Alinta Energy'.

What is standing in the way of this benefit to business and to consumers? I will not talk about 'electricity bills', which we all know are far too high, but if the Leader of the Opposition does not want to be referred to by that term, there is a very simple thing he can do: get out of the way and let the carbon tax repeal bill be passed. Axe the tax and respect the will of the Australia people.

Mr Mitchell interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whoever said the word 'hypocrite' I would ask them to withdraw.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.