Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

I quote: 'In the two-year period during which the carbon tax operated, we were invoiced over $158,000 in carbon tax charges. Our business had to borrow the money to pay for the carbon tax and we will be paying for interest on this for years to come.'

Theirs was an experience felt right across New South Wales and Australia. In New South Wales alone, the electricity bills over the two years of the carbon tax amounted to $2 billion. That was $2 billion in higher electricity prices. For firms, what we saw when it was abolished was a reduction of up to nine per cent in their electricity prices. For households, it was a reduction of up to 10 per cent. To go back to what the proprietors said in their email to the member for Robertson, I again quote: 'I implore you to fight against any reintroduction of a tax, levy or carbon trading scheme which will increase our electricity charges again.'

That brings us to the question of a threat. There is a plan to bring back a massive new electricity tax. It is not ours; it is theirs. No good question time is complete without a quote from the great wordsmith, the member for Fraser. The member for Fraser, as we know, is a prolific author. He recently had an article in The Australian about the carbon tax. What was it that the member for Fraser said? I quote the headline from 27 January of this year: 'Pining for the good old carbon tax' by Andrew Leigh. He did not just plan and he was not even yearning; he was pining. It is the Norwegian Blue of public policy.

Dr Leigh interjecting—

See this speech in context