Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have a question related to these matters, and it relates to the total cost. I am advised that the CPRS will impose a $54 billion cost burden on Australian business in the first five years. In the first nine years the CPRS will raise at least $114 billion—a figure roughly equivalent to New Zealand’s GDP. On the government’s own MYEFO estimates, the CPRS will raise $5,422 for every single Australian in the period to 2020. It seems that that is a very high figure, on a per capita basis, compared with the EU and a very high figure compared with the US and most other countries that I am aware of. In fact, their costs on a per capita basis are a tiny fraction of that burden. It has been said that Australian firms will pay the highest carbon costs in the world. The tax take from the CPRS is much higher than those from other international schemes. So the question is: how is that justified? Could the minister please indicate the costs on a per capita basis in the EU and certainly in the US for clarity purposes so that we know exactly where we stand?

The point that Senator Eggleston has made, and I think others have also, is: why do we do this in advance of our major trading partners? Why are we burdening our economy in advance of Copenhagen, rather than acting in parallel? Why are we not doing this in parallel, consistent with an international agreement? The fact is that there is a very heavy burden, as I have indicated from those figures, and the consequences are obviously quite serious. Senator Macdonald indicated earlier the fact that Australian firms will start paying those billions of dollars from 1 July 2011—some 19 months away. What is wrong with waiting for Copenhagen and then having a few months to get our act together? I think that rushing Labor’s ETS is in fact the worst option not just for Australia but certainly for my home state of Tasmania.

These are the concerns that I have. Tasmanians will be paying a 16 per cent increase in power costs. The rest of the country will be paying more than 20 per cent, and there is a $1,100 cost per year per family. I have a range of questions around the impact on business and small business, but I wonder if the minister could address those two specific questions about the $5,428 for every Australian up to 2020 and comparing that to the costs in the US and the EU. Could those matters be addressed as a preliminary measure?