Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Fair Competition) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Senator Ludwig. I refer the minister to the government's recent advice to Australia's small businesses through one of its propaganda pamphlets which tells small businesses that to cope with an expected 10 per cent increase in electricity prices as a result of the carbon tax they should 'fix any leaky taps promptly, clean lights and close doors'. Given that electricity prices have actually risen by more than 14 per cent as a direct result of a carbon tax, when will the government stop insulting Australia's 2.7 million small businesses with patronising and badly written brochures and instead admit that it has not paid and it will never pay a single dollar of compensation to small businesses for the increases in their costs due to the carbon tax?