Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to this electricity bill from Pitliangas Foods that shows its off-peak power has increased by 83 per cent as a direct result of the carbon tax that has driven up their entire bill by more than the government's predicted 10 per cent. Given that businesses and families are being hit with carbon tax increases above the government's predicted 10 per cent increase, why won't the government agree to urgently revise the modelling behind the world's largest carbon tax?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly welcome the question, but I am sure it is not welcomed by the member for Wentworth. The fact is we have seen the opposition come in here week in and week out making all sorts of inaccurate claims about the impact of a carbon price, whether it is on electricity bills or anything else. We know that electricity prices in this country have increased by about 50 per cent in the past four years without a carbon price. Depending on where you are, we know that has substantially come from decisions taken by state governments, particularly their overinvestment in poles and wires. Of course, we never hear about that. In my home state of Queensland, dividends taken out of the system by the Queensland government are responsible for something like $400 in every bill for every household.

We know the opposition are running out of steam when it comes to their scare campaign about carbon pricing. We have not been getting quite the same volume of questions that we were getting before. The sky has not fallen in. Central Queensland has not been wiped off the face of the map.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Prime Minister will return to the question before the chair.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am referring to the carbon price and the fact that the overall impact of the carbon price is 0.7 per cent, less than 1c in every dollar. The government have been up-front. We indicated what the impact would be on household electricity bills. We said all of those things, but that did not stop those opposite coming into the House and predicting doom and gloom. They said it was going to be a wrecking ball; it was going to wreck the economy. That has not happened. They have been walking back from that week after week. You can see the air coming out of that fear campaign. You can see it virtually evaporating, much to the chagrin of all of those opposite.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The question was about whether the government will revise its modelling as this bill shows electricity prices have gone up by more than 10 per cent.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Not even the Leader of the Opposition now believes his own scare campaign. Those opposite do not believe it any longer. So we can continue to get these questions with exaggeration and all of the hype, but it is not true and nobody is buying it any more.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. Rather than denigrating and ridiculing the concerns of Australians about the effect of the carbon tax on their livelihoods, why won't you simply answer the question: will you revise the modelling of the carbon tax to reflect its real impact?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The modelling of the carbon price is in the Treasury modelling and it is accurate.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to table this document that shows how the off-peak power price has gone up 83 per cent and across the whole bill a whole lot more than the 10 per cent you said.

Leave not granted.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table the pamphlet from John Alexander prior to the last election that said he would campaign for the Parramatta to Epping rail link.