Gillard Must Seek Carbon Tax Clarification From Obama

15/11/11

Prime Minister Julia Gillard must either gain confirmation from US President Obama that the US will have a Carbon Tax by 2016 or be forced to re-do her own figures on how much the Carbon Tax will cost Australians.

Treasury’s Carbon Tax modelling is based on an international agreement being reached by 2016, including the US as part of that global deal.

The failure of the US to be part of an international agreement will result in the cost of the Carbon Tax on Australians increasing. 

On that basis, I have written to Prime Minister Gillard urging her to raise the matter directly when President Obama arrives in Australia on Wednesday.

“In light of this, the Opposition requests that you seek confirmation from President Obama this week as to whether the US will have an economy wide cap and trade scheme by 2016 as the Government's modelling somewhat incredibly assumes.”

While the Federal Government modelling says there will be a 10% increase in electricity prices in year one, the NSW Treasury says 15%, the Electricity Supply Association of Australia says 20% and the Centre for International Economics says 30% by 2020.

The Federal modelling is based on the complete fiction that the United States, Canada, Japan and Korea, not to mention China and India will be part of a global trading system by 2016.  Even Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has conceded this is impossible but the fiction of the modelling remains and so does the Government’s claims that the impact of the Carbon Tax will be minimal.