29 January 2015

FEDERAL Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce said a 6.9 per cent drop in the price of electricity in NSW was a ringing endorsement in the Abbott Government’s decision to end the carbon tax.

Mr Joyce said he has received the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest carbon monitoring report and there was no doubt the commitment to remove the carbon tax represented savings to small businesses, not only in the New England Electorate, but across NSW and the nation.

He said the ACCC report focussed on the response of Australian businesses in the December 2014 quarter to the carbon tax repeal and the extent to which cost savings are flowing through the supply chain.

“It clearly shows that scrapping the carbon tax has contributed to price decreases or price increases that are less than what they otherwise would have been,” he said.

Mr Joyce said the ACCC findings were in line with the Coalition Government’s expectations and build on our commitment to help build a stronger economy and help families to make ends meet by bringing down the cost of living for Australians.

Mr Joyce said the ACCC will continue its assessment of the representations made by domestic airlines about the effect of the carbon tax and the carbon tax repeal on their airfares.

He said the Government had given the ACCC powers and the resources to take action where businesses are misleading their customers about the impact of the carbon tax repeal.

A copy of the report is available at http://bit.ly/carbondec on the website www.accc.gov.au