Tony Abbott Doorstop - Julia Gillard’s Carbon Tax

02/06/11

TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR,

JOINT DOORSTOP INTERVIEW WITH THE HON. BRUCE BILLSON MHR,

SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS, COMPETITION POLICY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS,

QUEANBEYAN

Subjects: Julia Gillard’s carbon tax.

E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………

TONY ABBOTT:

I’d like to thank David Gray for having us here at David Smash Repairs. This is a business which has been going for 38 years and they’re providing a good service to customers and I’m sure they want to continue providing a good service to customers but it’s going to be that much harder under Julia Gillard’s toxic tax.

Now, businesses like this face a high gas and electricity bill and a business like this could expect to face costs of an extra $5,000 a year under the Prime Minister’s toxic tax. That’s cost which is simply going to get passed on to customers or it will be a hit on this business’ bottom line. That means less profitability for small business, it means less employment in small business and this is typical of tens and tens of thousands of businesses right around Australia. So, my message to the Prime Minister and indeed to the Australian people is you can repair a car but you can’t repair this tax. This tax is just toxic, this tax is beyond repair. It just needs to be sent to the scrap yard, that’s what needs to happen to this tax.

Now, just on the subject of the carbon tax there are reports today that the Government is considering a low starting price. My point is that it might start at $20 a tonne but that’s not where it will stop. It will just go up and up and up. The Greens say that the carbon tax needs to be at least $40 a tonne to drive a shift from coal to gas. The Greens say that it needs to be at least $100 a tonne to drive a shift from fossil fuels to renewables. So the one thing you can count on is that this tax will just go up and up and up once it comes in.

That’s why we’ve got to stop the tax from coming in and I call on Labor members of parliament who have industries and jobs in their electorates that will be devastated by this tax to stop making excuses for a bad Government and to start speaking out on this toxic tax.

I’m going to ask Bruce Billson, my friend and colleague the Shadow Minister for Small Business, to say a few words and I might ask David if he’d like to add something to my comments.

BRUCE BILLSON:

Thank you, Tony. This is an example of one of hundreds of thousands of small businesses across Australia wondering what the carbon tax is going to mean for them. We’ve seen the public debate, carve outs of industries, compensation, but small business is not part of that discussion. They’ve been excluded and their interests and concerns have not featured at all in the Government’s work. They see the carbon tax as something that will carve out their profitability and there’s no compensation for viable businesses generating wealth and opportunity across our country who won’t be compensated for the damage this tax will cause. This carbon tax will be effectively taking a cylinder out of the engine room of the Australian economy – that’s small business and family enterprises. They are the economy in so many outer-metropolitan, rural and regional areas. That’s why the small business community is deeply concerned about the carbon tax and the direction in which the Gillard Government is proceeding. I might hand to Dave, and you can talk about what’s happening here, Dave.

DAVID GRAY:

Oh yeah, look we are always concerned about our bottom line. Fixed costs, something that is very difficult to pass on, and you know it’s not just me that has these costs. So does my staff, they have the same problems and their costs will go up at home and they’ll be looking for more money as well. So it is a real concern to us.

TONY ABBOTT:

Thanks, David. Ok, do we have any questions?

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, if the Coalition finds itself in government with a carbon tax that’s already in place, Barnaby Joyce said that the Coalition intends to repeal the carbon tax and also repeal any compensation measures that might be in place, like income tax cuts. Is that true and if it is how are you going to sell that to the Australian people?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I don’t think people should assume the carbon tax is going to become law. I know the Greens are pushing the Government desperately to bring the carbon tax in, but there are lots of Labor members of parliament with manufacturing industry in their seats, with coal mining in their seats who are very concerned. They’re speaking out privately and I think pretty soon they are going to be speaking out publicly. We’ve already had Paul Howes calling on the Prime Minister to give an absolute guarantee that not a single job will be lost because he’ll be withdrawing his support from the tax and from the Government if she can’t give that guarantee and I think there are lots of Labor members of parliament in coal mining seats and manufacturing seats who feel likewise. Let’s not forget that this tax ultimately spells death for the coal industry, it spells ultimately death for the manufacturing industry because the whole point of this tax is to say that the coal industry is not the foundation of a modern economy, but it is something which threatens the survival of our planet. So, every Labor member in a coal seat, every Labor member in a manufacturing seat has a deadly threat to the jobs of his or her constituents.

QUESTION:

But are you prepared to roll back compensation measures like income tax cuts?

TONY ABBOTT:

I am fighting this tax and I believe this fight will succeed. I don’t think decent, honest Labor members of parliament are going to stand idly by while the Prime Minister and her carbon tax kills jobs in their electorates.

QUESTION:

21 economists have written a letter saying they support an emissions trading scheme or some sort of carbon pricing. Are they just wrong?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I’m really pleased that economists are having their say and I want the people to have their say. I think that economists are important, economists count. But every Australian is important, every Australian counts and that’s why we need an election. The public need to have their say on this tax, not just celebrities and not just economists.

QUESTION:

Last night Peter Johnston rebuffed your call to act as a political activist against the carbon tax, saying he’d rather focus on policy. Do you think you went a bit far by calling on the mining industry to do this?

TONY ABBOTT:

The mining industry is very, very concerned about this carbon tax. The coal industry in particular understands that over time the carbon tax is supposed to destroy the coal industry. Now, I think the mining industry is very, very concerned about the carbon tax. The mining industry was polite, as you’d expect, but behind the politeness was a very, very alarmed industry that doesn’t want to see the coal industry killed by the carbon tax and doesn’t want to see Australian industry generally hurt by the world’s highest taxes on carbon.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, is your party made up of sexist MPs and what’s your response when the Government says something like that about you?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, you’re alluding to what happened yesterday. Senator Bushby has apologised and that’s where the matter should rest.

QUESTION:

Do you think the Government is exploiting the issue?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, the matter rests with the apology and that’s it.

QUESTION:

What about the issue as a whole though? I mean, there’s a lot of concerns that, you know, you’re not that popular with some female voters. Surely this isn’t doing well for your image?

TONY ABBOTT:

Yesterday’s kerfuffle and I’ll let it stay in yesterday.

QUESTION:

Last night Julia Gillard seemed to have a much better rapport with the mining chiefs than Kevin Rudd did this time last year. Are you concerned that perhaps they may be able to negotiate a bit better now that the relationship has improved?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I think it’s good that the Prime Minister and the industry are being polite to each other, but I think it’s very important that the Prime Minister address their concerns. Now, their concern is that the carbon tax will kill the coal industry. The whole point of the carbon tax is to kill the coal industry and the mining sector does not want the coal industry to be killed. The mining sector does not want the gas industry to be killed. The mining sector does not want a massive increase in its costs and that’s what this carbon tax will do.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, why is it ok for miners to be political activists but not celebrities?

TONY ABBOTT:

I think it’s important that people say their piece, people should say their piece and the best way to have everyone say their piece is with an election. That way, everyone’s vote counts, everyone’s vote counts equally. That’s what the Prime Minister should be doing. She should be seeking a mandate for this tax. She wasn’t upfront and honest to the people, she wasn’t upfront about the tax and honest with the people before the last election. Let’s have a new election where she can be upfront and honest with the Australian people.

QUESTION:

You criticised Cate Blanchett for commenting on the carbon tax, saying that she’s out of touch and because she’s a multi-millionaire. Mining chiefs are also multi-millionaires and you asked them to be political activists.

TONY ABBOTT:

The point is that everyone should have their say. It’s perfectly right and proper for celebrities, for economists, for former politicians to have their say, but why not let everyone have their say and the best way to let everyone have their say is through an election.

QUESTION:

Then why were you so critical of Cate Blanchett that day?

TONY ABBOTT:

The important thing is for everyone to have their say. Celebrities, economists, former politicians are all perfectly entitled to their say but they don’t count for any more than every Australian citizen. That’s why the whole of the public should have their say at an election and the point I make is that you can repair a car but you can’t repair this toxic tax. The best thing the public can do with this tax is send it to the wrecker’s yard.