“If the Rudd Government gets the Emission Trading Scheme in place, cities like Gladstone will pay the price”, says Senator Barnaby Joyce. “I challenge the people of Gladstone to investigate for themselves which large scale employers in the area would be forced to relocate offshore as a result of the ETS and the effect it would have on Gladstone.”
Yesterday, the Grattan Institute’s chief executive, John Daley, said that the government should not help industries such as the aluminium, alumina refining, coal mining, liquefied natural gas and oil refining to cope with the cost of carbon, even though it would cause the aluminium industry to move overseas.
Industry sources have confirmed that this would be the case, they would move offshore and in Gladstone’s case, this would cost 4000 jobs. The industry also point out the net effect of moving offshore would be to increase emissions globally.
“So if you have just bought a house in Gladstone, invested in business, or are planning to get a job there, you had better be prepared to be left high and dry like the many decent suppliers of insulation who have not been paid for the bats they installed and now have warehouses of product they can’t shift.
The Rudd Governments track record would surely not give the people of Gladstone any joy that their needs in the face of 4000 jobs lost would be met.
I, along with LNP Candidate, Ken O’Dowd, call for the Member for Flynn, Chris Trevor to openly oppose the ETS.”