When is a tax not a tax?

30/06/11

Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her carbon tax today:

“Now, what Tony Abbott likes to refer to as a carbon tax, a fixed-price period for an emissions trading scheme, is a period I believe should be as short as possible.”

“So people have heard a lot of debate about a carbon tax and today can I say to Australians the debate that they are hearing about a carbon tax is a debate about what Tony Abbott calls a carbon tax...”.

What Julia Gillard used to say about her carbon tax:

HEATHER EWART: With this carbon tax - you do concede it's a carbon tax, do you not?

JULIA GILLARD: Oh, look, I'm happy to use the word tax, Heather. I understand some silly little collateral debate has broken out today. I mean, how ridiculous. This is a market-based mechanism to price carbon.

HEATHER EWART: Well with this carbon tax then, it does seem certain that fuel and electricity prices will go up. How are you going to be sure that you can compensate for that, especially for low income earners?

JULIA GILLARD: Well, can I say this is a market-based mechanism to price carbon. It has a fixed price period at the start, a price that will be fixed. That is effectively a tax and I'm happy to say the word tax.

(Julia Gillard, 7.30 Report, 24 Feb 2011)

“Now, I wasn't going to get involved in semantic and ultimately sterile debate about what you call that fixed-price period. That's why I was upfront and said it's effectively like a tax and it will take us through to a cap and trade emissions trading scheme, a market mechanism to price carbon.”

(Julia Gillard, Doorstop Interview, 25 February 2011)

“It’s going to have a fixed price for the first few years. Now, there was going to be this silly, semantic debate breakout about whether or not that was effectively like a tax.”

(Julia Gillard, Radio 3AW, 25 February 2011)

“During the last election campaign we were talking about the best way of pricing carbon and I believe the best way of pricing carbon so we can tackle climate change is to have an emissions trading scheme. Now we’re going to get there Paul but through a fixed price period; effectively like a tax.”

(Julia Gillard, Meet the Press, 26 June 2011)

“The Government is determined to get this nation to an emissions trading scheme. We’ll get there via a fixed price for carbon for a period, effectively like a tax, but we will get to that carbon pricing emissions trading scheme I talked about in the 2010 election and Kevin and the team campaigned on in 2007.”

(Julia Gillard, ABC Radio Brisbane, 6 April 2011)

“Well, look, I understand this is going to be a big debate. Before the election I did say we needed to price carbon and we've always supported, as a political Party, a cap and trade scheme. We are in a minority government and we need to work with others to get legislation through, and in order to act we've agreed to have a scheme that is fixed price for a period - effectively like a tax - and then going to a full cap-and-trade scheme.”

(Julia Gillard, CNBC, 10 March 2011)

 “And John it is absolutely true, working with this Parliament in order to get to what I promised the Australian people I believed in, that is a market based mechanism to price carbon, we will have a fixed price that works effectively like a tax, that’s a compromise I’ve made to ensure we act in this parliament, working with the parliament the Australian people voted for.”

(Julia Gillard, Radio 2SM, 28 February 2011)

 “Laurie, I didn't want to get caught up in what I knew would be one of those semantic word games about whether or not I would say the word "tax". You know how these games are played, Laurie. A politician decides they’re not going to say a word, and then media, people like yourself, Laurie, spend weeks trying to make them say it. I wasn’t going to do any of that.”