Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I remind the Treasurer of comments from Victorian chicken meat boss Mike Shaw that the carbon tax has 'bowled over chicken growers with the triple-whammy price hike', with electricity up 13 to 16 per cent, LPG up 3.72c a litre, and landfill charges that have surged by $26 a tonne. Treasurer, Mr Shaw warns that without a cent of compensation for farmers or the ability to pass on increased costs: 'The only thing that is going to happen is we'll all go broke.' Treasurer, what do you expect our farmers to do?

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

If there have been unjustified price increases, they should be referred to the ACCC. Because, as I have said before, the overall impact on the economy is 0.7 per cent, less than one cent in the dollar. Yes, it does have a more significant impact on electricity. But, overall, in terms of our economy, price rises of that magnitude should be referred to the ACCC.