Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment. Will the minister outline what savings have been passed on to Victorian families and businesses, particularly dairy processors, since the government scrapped the world's biggest carbon tax? Are there any alternative plans to threaten these savings?

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

I do want to thank the member for McMillan, who is not just a great representative for the area but also happens to be somebody who has spent his life connected with the land and farming. Amongst other things, he understands the situation of dairy farmers, of those that work the land and of the fine margins by which they operate.

The first thing to note in answering the question of what the impacts of the carbon tax are, for Victorians it has been a $3.1 billion hit on the economy over the last two years. This year, however, it will be zero dollar hit on the economy. That $3.1 billion, or more than $1½ billion a year, affected the power sector, the gas sector and the manufacturing sector but in particular also hit the dairy sector. The electorate of McMillan is one of Australia's great dairying centres. One of the great firms within that electorate is Murray Goulburn. When you look at Murray Goulburn you see there is the Koroit operation in Wannon; the Cobram operation in Murray; the Maffra operation in Gippsland; the Kiewa operation in Indi; and the Leongatha operation in the electorate of McMillan. How much was Murray Goulburn hit—because remember this is about farmers and the price of milk—according to the Australian Dairy Industry Council? Murray Goulburn incurs an annual carbon tax cost of approximately $14 million. It was, in short, a tax on milk. This is a tax on milk.

This is a tax on milk, farmers and dairy farmers that was introduced by the ALP in breach of their election promise. They like to talk about election promises. They made the granddaddy of all election breaches when they said they would not have carbon tax. And then they introduced a tax on, of all things, milk. We have removed it. Here is what the Australian Dairy Industry Council said after the carbon tax was removed: 'The carbon tax added to the cost of production for dairy farmers and processes, and made us less competitive, less competitive, compared to our international competitors.' Well, it is gone. It is not coming back under us. But the Leader of the Opposition, as we know, in recent weeks has been talking to The Age, has been talking to Sky and has been talking to the others about bringing back the carbon tax. He will not call it a carbon tax, but it raises electricity prices, it raises gas prices and it is a tax on milk. It is a tax on dairy farmers. It is a tax which we will fight for the rest of our days.