The question is, how long will this last, and how long will the public tolerate these two kissy faced politicians?
The vote in the lower house, which was applauded by Labor MPs and spectators in the public gallery, was a crucial test for the government, given its wafer-thin majority. The bills will now go the Senate for debate but will pass comfortably with help from the Greens, probably next month.
After the vote, Prime Minister Julia Gillard embraced Climate Change Minister Greg Combet, who had the difficult job of steering the policy, and even exchanged a peck on the cheek with Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd, whose reported ambitions to retake the leadership are proving a headache for the Prime Minister.
The passage of the bills are a crucial victory for Ms Gillard, whose popularity has fallen steadily since last year.
Under the legislation, about 500 of the biggest carbon-emitting companies in Australia will pay a price for each tonne of carbon. Most of the biggest emitters are electricity generating firms, mining companies and heavy industry manufacturers.
To compensate households, the government is cutting income taxes and boosting payments such as pensions and other benefits, as well as offering various lump sum payments.
The average household is expected to pay about $9.90 a week in extra living costs, including $3.30 on electricity.
However this will be offset by an estimated $10.10 in extra benefits and tax breaks. The Australian scheme will cover about 60 per cent of Australia’s emissions, making it the most broad-based in the world.
The first Atlantic crossing of the Titanic was more successful than what that kiss was celebrating. An entire nation was not at risk when the Titanic sank.
Its worst than we originally thought. The unintended consequences of carbon taxes. When you stand to make millions simply by planting trees, the first step is to take land from those people least able to defend themselves. In much of the world, rather than buy the land, it is much simpler and cheaper to bribe corrupt officials to help you steal the land.
Peasants and journalists are now being killed to secure land in the third world in return for EU carbon credits. How long before Australians are forced off their own land to pay the carbon taxes?
Forget about raising sheep and cattle. At $30 ton there is more to be made simply by not cutting down trees. As the price goes even higher, it becomes more profitable to get paid to save carbon by closing businesses rather than opening new ones.
http://www.euractiv.com/sites/all/euractiv/files/Honduras-FFM-Report-Bajo-Aguan.pdf
Well on the bright side a tonne of CO2 is selling for 5 cents. Therefore this should not be too hard on those who create jobs, supply energy, or generally contribute to Oz society.
Or are the politicians/liars in power deciding they can set their own CO2 rate?
enlightened comment on the bbc website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15269033?postId=110535881#comment_110535881
well it made laugh anyway
/Mango
H.R. says:
October 12, 2011 at 3:43 am
“However this will be offset by an estimated $10.10 in extra benefits and tax breaks.”
“It’s a safe bet that the “expected” $9.90 will be much higher and the “estimated” $10.10 will be much, much lower.”
It will work like this. The $9.90 will pay for a rise in the existing benefits;and a month later, a new “Make Australia more competitive” law will be released that cuts benefits by $9.90 again to give an incentive for the unemployed to find work; or some other arbitrary reason. This law will of course be entirely unrelated to the carbon tax.
At least they sugar coated it before they shoved it up your [self snip]! What you couldn’t taste it? It is a sad day for you folks. You have let yourselves be led to the stocks and strapped in. The first one was sugarcoated for your pleasure. I wonder how many will be surprised when the next phase is not for their pleasure, but for the pleasure of their progressive masters. Now that you are slaves, it is time to start the pain.
Great excitement about a minor tax to limit the extent to which human activity changes the chemical composition of the atmosphere seems unwarranted, especially as the tax is said to be offset by benefits and tax rebates.
British Columbia has had a carbon tax for years, also offset by rebates of other taxes, without slowing the economy relative to that of the rest of Canada.
What folks need to worry about is the other 50% or so of GDP that Western governments take in taxes, including the inflation tax, to achieve little, it seems, other than the construction of a police state.
The excitement and sense of triumph here is a lot like what happened right after prohibition was passed in the US. I just hope the tax stays as low as it sounds so the negative effects on Aus won’t be too bad.
The majority is always right! Go Democracy! Go Consensus!
Ozzie ozzie ozzie
Oy oy vey!
For the life of me I can’t get through my thick head what this is supposed to accomplish. They’re taxing the 500 largest “polluters” and I assume those companies will pass those costs onto the customers. Then the government turns around and refunds money to the taxpayers so they can pay the higher prices. What am I missing, it seems like a circle jerk to me with nothing getting accomplished.
If my information is correct, the Aussie carbon tax goes up every year for several years to encourage a phased reduction by “polluters”. The Department of Climate Change already has over 1000 people employed. Electricity providers will have no option but to ration electricity and there’s no way renewable energy will take up the slack. I wonder how long before homeowners start using blackout curtains so that the carbon police cannot see if they are using electricity outside their allocated hours. The ideal welfare government in the making: one that hands out money to encourage businesses and people not to work.
Misery loves company.
Its nice to know your government is as corrupt as ours in the US…
“However this will be offset by an estimated $10.10 in extra benefits and tax breaks.”
Not for the people paying for the benefits.
Bob Johnston says:
October 12, 2011 at 10:02 am
“What am I missing, it seems like a circle jerk to me with nothing getting accomplished.”
The only thing you are missing is how government works.
Personally, I think this whole Carbon Tax debate should have been handled in a more civilzed way – Thunderdome!
“Two politicians enter, only one leaves…”
Thanks for the alert, I just dumped stock in any company related to Australia.
James Reid says:
October 12, 2011 at 2:11 am
I shake my head in despair…..
Luckily I have some good productive land that maybe I can grow some food on and help feed the starving folks… providing I can still buy some deisel fuel for my tractor and some fertiliser :-).
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Get a pair of Draft animals that is what I did.
Unfortunately, at least here in the USA and the EU the same Sociopaths promoting the annihilation of western civilization via the carbon tax have also targeted food production via the United Nations and The World Trade Organization.
In the USA we have something called the Commerce Clause that will allow the US government to regulate home gardens if they wish.
The US government (USDA) in the lawsuit that reached the Supreme Court claimed that if Mr. Filburn grew wheat for his own use, he would not be buying it — and that affected interstate commerce. The supreme Court declared against the farmer stating:
“[The wheat] supplies a need of the man who grew it which would otherwise be reflected by purchases in the open market. Home-grown wheat in this sense competes with wheat in commerce.” Wickard v. Filburn 1942
Here is the idiocy cooked up by WTO and the UN.
Good Agricultural Practices
A multiplicity of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) codes, standards and regulations have been developed in recent years by the food industry…. aiming to codify agricultural practices at farm level for a range of commodities….” http://www.fao.org/prods/gap/ [has links]
http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Food_Safety/docs/pdf/GGFP.pdf
http://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D7201.PDF
I mention this because the traitor, Congressman Ed Markey, of the Waxman- Markey Carbon tax bill has also been pushing WTO/UN control of food in the USA . They finally slipped it through during the lame duck session last Christmas. With luck something similar is not planned for Australia but watch out for it. The politicians have already shot themselves in the foot they have nothing left to lose.
Australia already has part of the WTO agenda enacted with the Animal ID/traceability. Your fellow Australians warned us to Fight NAIS down to the last cowboy: Australia Beef Association presentation to R-CALF USA
Bloke down the pub says:
October 12, 2011 at 3:08 am
Julia said the ALP wanted to set a lead in the world by introducing this carbon tax. I suspect she was hoping to lead the world in reducing CO2 emissions, however I expect the lead will be in wrecking the economy.
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That is exactly how they will reduce Australia’s Carbon food print. Tank the entire economy.
In the infamous words of Obama’s Science Czar, John P. Holdren.
“The need for de-development presents our economists with a major challenge. They must design a stable, low-consumption economy in which there is a much more equitable distribution of wealth than in the present one. Redistribution of wealth both within and among nations is absolutely essential if a decent life is to be provided for every human being.” 1973 book Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions
Sure sounds like Gillard read his book!
Roger Knights says:
October 12, 2011 at 3:40 am
Huh?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/pokies-report-calls-for-loss-limit-to-be-set-at-120-an-hour-before-restrictions-kick-in/story-fn59niix-1226051258217
In the US, Obama has pursued a policy of driving up energy prices as a way of “stimulating” the growth of the green economy. He is doing this by artificially constraining supply. Since energy prices are highly supply elastic (small changes is supply lead to large changes is prices), he’s able to manipulate prices by interfering with domestic production of oil and coal. But, this type of economic policy never works. Economies don’t work well when public policy drives them in the direction of inefficiency. As a result, the Obama economy is best described as a “soup kitchen” economy with stagnant economic growth and high long term unemployment.
Australia will now discover the same thing as they implement this carbon tax.
David Schofield says:
October 12, 2011 at 1:29 am
Oz coal industry will do very well. It’s selling as much as it can produce to China.
Yes, today it is. My point was that this situation will change when the Aussies slap a huge tax (export tariff) on coal produced in Australia and exported. Read what the law in the bill entails. The government of Australia is free to attack CO2 in any shape or form it wants. Aussies will have little toxic squiggly light bulbs coming out of their yin-yangs.
Then China at the end of the day will buy the cheaper product from the U.S. and Canada.
mpaul says:
October 12, 2011 at 11:34 am
One can call this The Law Of Intended Consequences.
Orson Olson says:
October 12, 2011 at 4:46 am
I believe an old European tradition ought to be imported by Aussies – namely, “OFF with their heads!” regicide.
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If Katla goes off that may not be such a joke. Just do a search on “Strategic Grain Reserve” In 2008 when there were food riots in many countries, USDA Undersecretary Mark Keenum, said “Our cupboard is bare.” Whether grain reserves have been rebuild is difficult to determine since it doesn’t make the news until we run out. Bio-fuel has certainly not helped matters.
So far we have been a civilized bunch (and I certainly hope we stay that way) even the “Occupy Wallstreet” types. But there have been some warning “notes” The riots in the middle east and the UK and worse the killing of 94 people in the recent island camp massacre in Norway. The camp was not the usual kiddie camp but was actually a political camp, considered Norway’s nursery school for future leaders.
So “Madam Guillotine” may not be as much of a joke these days.
At the 2010 Australian federal election the Greens polled 11.8% of the vote. They’re now running the country through a minority coalition with the Labor Party and rammed through the world’s only economy-wide tax on carbon dioxide, which was opposed in one newspaper poll this morning by 80% of respondents.This is James Hansen’s totalitarian wet dream, zombies running wild in one of the world’s formerly rich countries, which is about to become immeasurably poorer, with rising unemployment, debt and interest rates. As James Delingpole observed yesterday, Australia has committed suicide.