Alan Eggleston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is quite clear there is a very large gulf of disagreement between the opposition and government on this issue, and my money for the moral right is on the side of the opposition. The proposed imposition of a $2.5 billion excise on condensate produced by the North West Shelf joint venture, if I may say so, is yet another example of the high-taxing policies of the Rudd government. Throughout their short history, so far we have seen a total commitment to higher taxes. Unfortunately, this huge increase in tax, which was imposed without consultation with the North West Shelf joint venture partners—which include Shell, BP, Chevron, MIMI and Woodside—will have some seriously adverse consequences, not only in WA where the increased tax will most likely be passed on to domestic and industrial consumers in the form of higher prices for electricity—