How big is ‘The Great Big New Tax’?

Image: http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/xenophon-supports-lib-nat-carbon-tax-repeal/

It’s actually less than the tax collected from alcohol and tobacco, says The Australia Institute.

Find out more here

• Phillip Coorey, SMH, The Polls: Sour reception for carbon tax

• Brookings Institute: Teaching the US a lesson: HERE

• Economics Professor Ross Garnaut, ABC Lateline: A market-based approach to reducing emissions will cost Australians substantially less than a regulatory approach: HERE

First published: 2012-07-02 07:33 PM

• Farmers have nowhere to run from carbon tax

In theory, agriculture is exempt from the carbon tax that came into force on July 1. In reality, it will cost Tasmanian farmers millions in the first year alone, chief executive of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Jan Davis said today.

“That additional cost comes as a result of the higher prices farmers will have to pay for production inputs such as electricity, fertilisers, the variable charge components of irrigated water supplies.

“While diesel fuel used for road transport is exempt until after 2014, there is no exemption for diesel fuel used for shipping. Tasmanian farmers therefore face yet another competitive barrier in transport costs,” Ms Davis said.

“That means it will be more expensive for our farmers to get their produce to market and it will be more expensive to bring in fertilisers and other inputs used in farming.

“At the same time, major retailers have made it clear that shelf prices will not be increasing so they will have to reduce the prices they pay to farmers to offset their own rising costs. As farmers are price takers, they have no recourse.”

Ms Davis said the inevitable result of this would be more and more Tasmanian farmers driven out of business by imports that cost less. Ultimately, consumers will be worse off.

She said that dairying and irrigated crops were likely to be the sectors hardest hit. One large milk processor had calculated the carbon tax would add $5000 to the costs of the average dairy farm; while Horticulture Australia had flagged average cost increases of $10,000 a year but up to $40,000 for large-scale fruit and vegetable growers.

Ms Davis said many people had assumed, wrongly, that because Tasmania’s main power source was clean hydro energy, it was not subject to the carbon tax.

“It is subject to the tax because, with the Basslink cable, we now have a mix of electricity sources, not just hydro stations,” she said. “The imported electricity that is generated with higher CO2 emissions is subject to carbon tax. Common sense says that electricity costs here should be less than in other states – but that’s not the case.”

Business analyst IBISWorld says the annual cost to Australian agriculture will be $3.2 billion and that dairying will be the agricultural sector most seriously affected with production costs expected to rise by $170.3 million in 2012-13 and $198.8 million in 2014-15.

“IBISWorld is saying that overall farm costs will rise by $3.2 billion in 2012-13 and contribute to an expected 6.4 per cent fall in revenue. As the government begins to tax farmers for on-road transport from 2014, farming costs are expected to increase a further $3.7 billion,” Ms Davis said.

“Federal assistance packages will have next to no impact on easing this situation.”

• CurtisLeMaysNose: Watch Sophie Mirabella Stop the Goats (on Q@A last night)

• Sophie Mirabella
Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science

A Tasmanian vegetable grower and exporter has confirmed Labor’s Carbon Tax will cost it more than $300,000 a year and will make the business less competitive in global markets.

Shadow Minister for Industry Sophie Mirabella heard the impacts of the Carbon Tax on two major North West employers when she visited Australian Weaving Mills and Harvest Moon with Tasmanian Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck and the Federal Liberal Candidate for Braddon, Michael Burr.

Both businesses are significant contributors to the local economy but both estimate the Carbon Tax will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased costs.

“Simon Drum of Harvest Moon told us that it will now cost an extra $80,000 per year to re-gas refrigeration units,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“Refrigerants Australia executive director Steve Anderson has confirmed that industry is facing price increases up to 500 per cent due to the tax. This skyrocketing cost will have severe impacts on Harvest Moon and on every other business in Australia which uses this gas.

Senator Colbeck said on top of the refrigerant gas increases, Harvest Moon was also looking at shipping cost increases of more than $200,000 and additional power charges of $21,000.

“The Harvest Moon example compounds my concern that the Federal Government failed to do any modelling on the effect of the Carbon Tax on Australia’s horticultural sector.

“Horticulture Australia was left to do Labor’s homework and is about to release a report that predicts horticultural businesses operating on slim margins are likely to struggle with Carbon Tax costs.

“And slim margins are the norm in horticultural businesses where additional costs cannot easily be passed up the supply chain.

“This is the worst possible time to hit our local manufacturing, agricultural and horticultural businesses with a Carbon Tax,” Senator Colbeck said.

• ” title=”Mark Hertsgaard, Aljazeera: The biggest climate victory you never heard of “>Mark Hertsgaard, Aljazeera: The biggest climate victory you never heard of