Quite frankly, I have had to stop with my daily read of the news websites and I am no longer enjoying my local morning paper. I’ve stooped to reading the SPORT pages with my breakfast, because at least the type of drivel and hyperbole I am going to contend with won’t make me splutter with rage into my Weeties… one week at a time/playing like it’s the finals every week blah blah lost because we didn’t win blah blah. And all this is because Julia Gillard finally announced the substance and structure of the {gasp} carbon tax{shudder}.
Quite frankly, I don’t really understand what the fuss is about. The climate may or may not be changing. It may or may not be affected by human activity. Other countries have decided that they should err on the side of caution and you know, maybe do something about reducing emissions and encouraging people to make choices about their energy useage. So why not do something here?
Because EGAD… It’s a TAX and TAX IS BAD and that. And The Gubbermints said NO CARBON TAX. But I am not sure that they did. Or didn’t. Or whatever. Confused now… But still. There was always going to be an emissions trading scheme or some way of pricing carbon. And as it turns out, this method charges the people who create the carbon – whether they pass the cost along to the consumer or wear it is up to them. And if they do, consumers can generally choose whether they’d like to pick Company A that costs more because they pass it along or Company B that charges less because they’ve reduced their emissions. And if Miss Gillard had stuck to calling it a charge or a fee and not mentioned the “T” word, we’d have moved along by now.
Anyway, this bloke says it way better than I can (and I bet he’s done research and stuff too. In fact, he says it so well, that his website broke. Go and read it, anyway. And his follow up. You need to read that as well. He’s a very clever man and I am partly jealous and mostly very pleased I have found someone who speaks my mind on the interwebs.)
My personal opinion is based on what is NOT happening; and what is NOT being said, is that a whole heap of economists think it’s a good thing, there is in fact science to say the climate is changing, and well – mining companies and the heavy industrials have been making decisions for the last five or so years based on their being a tax on emissions or carbon or what ever it ends up being called. Share prices are not dropping in response to the announcement, in fact everyone except for Tony Abbott, LNP MPs and the shock jocks (oh and the people who think the unvarnished truth spills from their mouths who regularly write in to the newscorp websites) – everyone else seems to be trundling along with a whole lot of business as usual.
I read something yesterday on the FCAI website where they talk about ZOMG Carbon Tax will RUIN the Australian motor vehicle industry. ZOMG increased costs of $30 million a year. Gosh. $30 million. That’s a lot of money. Except when you consider that the average number of vehicles sold in Australia over the last three years is a smidge over 1,000,000. Yep – ONE MILLION VEHICLES. So, by my seriously dodgy calculations – that’s {gasp} $30 a vehicle. Even if it’s only referring to Australian produced vehicles… it might be $150 or $200 a car. When you’re talking about a $20,000 (minimum… a new Commodore is $35,000 or something) purchase, an extra $200 is nothing – it’s around 0.5% on a Commodore.
In perspective, it’s one Big Night Out, one gold ticket to a good concert, five slabs of beer, three slabs of Bundy cans… maybe even a couple of nice “dinner and a movie” dates with the missus (or mister).
And OH NOES, people are saving their money and not going shopping and retail sales are down and it’s all because of the carbon tax (and fluoride, apparently. Fluoride causes everything). Except that retail sales are down a whole 0.6%. Maybe it’s because people have enough Stuff. I mean, how many flat screen televisions can one family have? How many game consoles? How many new couches? Things don’t need to be updated every six months, and when one has one fully functioning one of everything, hey – they’re going to stop shopping. And sales in cafes etc have actually gone up by 1.4% - So people have enough stuff, they’re going out and spending their aforementioned $200 on a big night out.
Which brings me to the compensation… Yes, the Poor People and Old People (and, I dare say, the Poor Old People) are getting loads and loads. Yet the Battlers earning more than $150,000 a year are getting ZIPPO, in fact they’ll have to cough it up. Poor ole Battlers.
But when one earns in excess of $150,000 a year, one will find that one is able to absorb the extra $10 a week. In fact, I think one will be able to absorb more than $10 a week in increased costs somehow. And if one cannot – one should look at what one is spending one’s hard earned loot on and make adjustments accordingly. The people who are getting the extra compensation are the ones that are least able to afford to absorb the increased costs. Oh, and as a complete aside – did you notice that a chunk of the “compensation” is a fairly hefty *increase* in the tax-free threshold? Way to make earning money more attractive, hey! And those pesky dole bludgers who are currently losing too much money to make it worth their while to be getting a job will find they’re taxed a bit less, so might actually find themselves able to move forward.
We may or may not have stuffed up this planet, but hello – we might be able to do something about ensuring it’s not a wasteland for our grand children. Australia is a Big Country now, and doesn’t need to wait and see what the Cool Kids are doing; or keep playing that game of “nobody else is doing it, so why should we?” That argument never cut the mustard with your mum, so why should it be cutting the mustard now?
Let’s grow up, shut up and start doing something (anything) that doesn’t involve whingeing and complaining about how much it’s going to hurt (because it is more than likely that it won’t). Put things in perspective, think about the consequences or otherwise of your (lack of) actions and stop with the WHAT ABOUT ME????? Please.
PS: retail sales figures are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics

Normally, people talk about New Year’s Resolutions in December and early January, then within a week or two (or three, if you’re really dedicated) those vows to cut down on the drinking, stop smoking, diet and exercise have petered out to a little more than nothing and a wry “oh well, next year – pass me the scotch and another cigarette and while you’re at it, another serve of cream buns and hot chips all ’round”.
