It is a frightening thought that our nation is about to recalibrate its economy on a colourless, odourless gas at a time when the global economy is on the edge of a precipice.
It is deeply saddening that the warrants, given prior to the last election on the banks of the Brisbane River to national television, that “there will be no Carbon Tax under the Government I lead” mean nothing and that by reason of this the dignity of the office of Prime Minister has been sullied.
It is a very bad day for democracy when the views of the Australian people as voted for at a federal election, then reinforced in all the polls since, are to be ignored. It is historically momentous that the oldest party in Australia has been dragged so low that they are now the captive to the peripheral extremism of the Greens party who are quite evidently determining substantial sections of the Labor Government’s policy.
Rudd is obviously on the move against Gillard and there is no love lost between the two or reason for any détente. Australia is suffering all the signs of a government that is in critical and dangerous demise as they fight each other, rather than sail the ship which is now heading toward a rather large economic iceberg.
Last week we borrowed an extra $2 billion, again, and we are now $212 billion in gross debt. Our manufacturing industry is in real trouble and the final thing our nation needs is a tax that removes the strategic advantage we have, cheap power.
Industry lobbyists have been literally running around desperately trying to cover the multiple exposures coming down the path to them. Their frustration is palpable.
The banks are happy, however, they are about to score a ticket to billions of dollars in commissions. This is the new world that the Greens have forced on a capitulated Labor who is now stumbling around making excuses for this complete and dangerous policy fiasco.
As stated by Dick Warburton, of Manufacturing Australia, the commodity boom will one day end then our economy will be one of services, banks and agriculture. This trio will be trying to pay off a massive debt left by a party that maxed out the credit card when there was a minerals boom.
May the divine spirit have mercy on us, as our nation tries to pay the debt off when China decides that they do not wish to pay us as much as they used to for our coal and iron ore.
The key issue is this, whether you are the most fervent supporter of the argument on human induced global warming, or alternatively believe that human capacity to change the climate is vastly overblown, there is one unifying fact; Australia’s action on carbon reduction will have no effect whatsoever on the climate, it is merely a gesture.
So how much do you wish to pay for this gesture? Labor’s political position is that on the one hand it will have little price effect, which if that is true then the carbon tax as a pricing mechanism is pointless, yet it comes with a multiple $100 million bureaucracy.
On the other hand, if it does have a bad effect then Labor promise to compensate you. People only get compensated if they have been unjustly hurt. So who by this statement does Labor believe will be hurt? Pensioners, steel production, coal mining, power companies, low income earners all by Labor’s own admission of compensation will be hurt by this pointless gesture to placate the policy desires of the Australian Greens.
The final lunacy is that Australia signs up to send up to $57.9 billion a year to the very dubious carbon credit market overseas. Your loss of lifestyle will support the most lucrative scam market in the history of the planet.
So good luck finding the mythical green jobs they promise, good luck paying back the debt and, most importantly, the best of luck finding one Labor member who will say that they will campaign at the next election knowing they are personally responsible for the predicament this mad tax put us in.