House debates
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Bills
Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013, Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, True-up Shortfall Levy (Excise) (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, True-up Shortfall Levy (General) (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Climate Change Authority (Abolition) Bill 2013, Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, Clean Energy (Income Tax Rates and Other Amendments) Bill 2013, Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Abolition) Bill 2013; Second Reading
6:40 pm
Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source
On the night of the election the Prime Minister elect got up and said, 'The people have spoken and the government has changed.' The policies we took to the election were very clear and one of the cornerstone policies was the abolition of the carbon tax. This was not some side issue; this has been at the centre of the political debate in this country for the last four or five years. If you are concerned about jobs then you cannot support a carbon tax. If you are concerned about the impact of cost of living on families then it is crazy to support a carbon tax. The carbon tax has been a direct hit on the hip pockets of families. The message at the last election was very clear and voters were very clear about what was being offered, that a vote for the coalition was a vote to abolish the carbon tax.
The Leader of the Opposition wants people to continue to pay 10 per cent more on their electricity bills. He wants them to continue to pay more on their gas bills. The carbon tax is a $9 billion hit on the economy this year alone and it hits every home, every hospital, every school, every charity. In my own state of South Australia we heard about the impact on Penrice Soda and the impact on Adelaide Brighton, iconic South Australian companies. We heard about the impact this would have on manufacturing and we heard about the impact this would have on small businesses, including refrigerating businesses but all small businesses. In my electorate the Belair Hotel received one of the first itemised electricity bills after the carbon tax, and what that bill showed clearly was that the increase in their off-peak power rate was 44 per cent as a direct result of the carbon tax. Their January electricity bill was $15,494.83. When they got their July bill, the first bill under the carbon tax, it was $19,092.65. A large part of that came from the leap from 4.5c per kilowatt hour to 6.51c a kilowatt hour in the off-peak power rate. The reason on the July bill was 'carbon adjustment'. Belair hotel director Brett Matthews stated that the extra cost would mean either jobs or prices at this popular hotel which employs about 75 people.
We have already introduced into parliament the carbon tax repeal bill. This is a central part of the coalition's plan to build a stronger economy and to help address cost-of-living pressures on families. Scrapping the carbon tax means that households will be $550 better off in 2014-15 alone. It means that electricity bills will be $200 lower a year and gas bills $70 lower a year. Families in my electorate of Boothby are really feeling the pinch of increasing cost-of-living pressures.
Household budgets are suffering, and one of the best things that we can do in Canberra to help them is to abolish the carbon tax immediately. As I said before, the people of Australia spoke; the people of Boothby, my electorate, spoke as well and they were very clear about what they voted for. One of the main things they voted for was the abolition of the carbon tax. That means that it is now up to parliament to repeal this tax.
The Leader of the Opposition has already said that Labor will vote to keep the carbon tax. What this demonstrates—and I think it was the Minister for Agriculture who put it so well—is that we have government change deniers.
Tibor Majlath
Posted on 9 Dec 2015 1:02 pm
DR. SOUTHCOTT:
In my electorate the Belair Hotel received one of the first itemised electricity bills after the carbon tax, and what that bill showed clearly was that the increase in their off-peak power rate was 44 per cent as a direct result of the carbon tax. Their January electricity bill was $15,494.83. When they got their July bill, the first bill under the carbon tax, it was $19,092.65.
REPLY:
The two bills were tabled in paliament, but are not available on the web for public viewing. The bills are separated by six months. One is a summer bill, the other is for winter. Is this a fair comparison when usages may differ greatly? There is no mention of differing usage. Don't energy suppliers also charge different power rates depending on the season?
Over six months the gross bill increased by $(19,092.65 - 15,494.83) x 100 / $15,494.83 = + 23%
DR. SOUTHCOTT:
A large part of that came from the leap from 4.5c per kilowatt hour to 6.51c a kilowatt hour in the off-peak power rate. The reason on the July bill was 'carbon adjustment'.
REPLY:
Over six months the off-peak power rate allegedly increased by (6.51 - 4.5) x 100 / 4.5 = + 45% as a direct result of the carbon tax.
How can that be true, when the LNP proudly announced that with the repeal of the carbon tax we can expect UP TO 12.4% in savings and no more! Remarkably low commercial prices for a kwh in South Australia. Victorian residential prices are 5-6 times more.
Labor said the carbon tax was 9.5% on the hotel's bill which fits with Dr. Southcott's own assertion of 9% increases due to the carbon tax. (see Dr. Southcott's later comments for this day) Analysis of the two monthly bills - both of which were tabled in Federal Parliament by Dr. Southcott - showed a 25 per cent leap in network charges as well.
So, if one assumes
(a) THE SAME USAGE ON BOTH BILLS without actually having access to said documents, and that
(b) in general an electricity bill is made up of around 10% GST; 20% network charges; 70% electricity. That is, 7/9 of the bill ex-GST must be (electricity + carbon charge) and 2/9 must be the network charge.
then it is possible to estimate that
the component makeup of the Summer bill (pre carbon tax) is as follows
Electricity used ex tax = $10,955.94 or 70.71% of $15,494.83
Network Charge = $3,130.27 or 20.2% of $15,494.83
LNP's Tax = $1,408.62 or 9.09% of $15,494.83
the component makeup of the Winter bill (post carbon tax) under a 9.5% carbon tax is as follows
Electricity used ex tax = $10,955.94 or 57.38% of $19,092.65
The usual general price rise = $1,321.83 or 6.92% of $19,092.65
Labor's 9.5% Carbon Tax on $(10,955.94 + 1,321.83) = $1,166.39 or 6.11% of $19,092.65
Network Charge = $3,130.27 or 16.4% of $19,092.65
25% increase in Network Charge on $3130.27 = $782.57 or 4.1% of $19,092.65
LNP's Tax = $1,735.70 or 9.1% of $19,092.65
the percentage winter increases against the summer bill are as follows
The usual general price rise = $1,321.83 or 8.53% of $15,494.83
Labor's 9.5% Carbon Tax on $(10,955.94 + 1,321.83) = $1,166.39 or 7.53% of $15,494.83
25% increase in Network Charge on $3130.27 = $782.57 or 5.051% of $15,494.83
increase in the LNP's Tax over $14,08.62 = $327.08 or 2.11% of $15,494.83
These account for the overall 23% increase! It is not straightforward to see how the 44 or 45% increase in the off peak rate came about.