The revolt against the Labor-Greens carbon tax and Julia Gillard’s broken promise growing. Earlier this month, I spoke at one of what will be a series of rallies against Labor’s latest broken tax promise outside Julia Gillard’s electorate office.
With my Liberal colleagues, Mitch Fifield, Julian McGauran, Bernie Finn and Andrew Elsbury, local community organisers and a reported 450 protesters we challenged the Prime Minister to honour her election commitment that she would not introduce a carbon tax.
Speaking with protesters at the rally against Labor’s Carbon Tax.Australians are rightly angry about Labor’s carbon tax betrayal. Labor cannot run away from the facts: power bills will rise by $300, petrol prices will rise at least 6.5 cents per litre and gas prices will rise by up to 10% in the first year alone.
Grocery prices will rise. Independent supermarket operators are already warning that their electricity costs will increase between $500 and $1000 per week, so their prices will have to rise too.
And that’s at Labor’s starting carbon price of $26 a tonne – Bob Brown thinks that the price of carbon should be $40 a tonne.
This tax will destroy some businesses and make others less competitive. Bluescope Steel Chairman Graham Kraehe says it could be life-threatening for a raft of businesses big and small.
Protesters outside Julia Gillard’s electorate office.While Labor has lurched from its flawed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to a ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to a carbon tax we were promised we’d never have, the Coalition has had a comprehensive policy of direct action that will achieve the result as the government without forcing up the prices of energy and the cost of living.
Labor says it will ‘compensate’ for the carbon tax, but only to some Australians. Remember, Labor promised not to touch the private health insurance rebate and other family tax measures as well – all promises broken in Labor’s first term. Julia Gillard’s promises to compensate are as worthless as her promise not to introduce a carbon tax.
Rallies today in Canberra and other states will continue to remind the electorate that Labor lied to each and every Australian to win government.