Scrapping the carbon tax remains the Coalition’s top priority, Tony Abbott says
From Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s doorstop interview at Brisbane’s Roclea Markets yesterday:
QUESTION:
You spoke about businesses needing stability and certainty. Some people within industry have said it might be difficult and awkward to roll back the carbon tax. So, would you listen to concerns and possibly keep that in if you did gain power?
TONY ABBOTT:
The best certainty is the certainty of no carbon tax and that’s the certainty that the Coalition promises. The carbon tax will be rescinded in its entirety by an incoming Coalition Government. The first order of business for an incoming Coalition Government will be the scrapping of the carbon tax and everything associated with it. Now, this carbon tax is going to impact in every nook and cranny of our economy. I’ve spent the last day with Nolan’s Transport. Nolan’s is just one transport company. The fuel bill alone of Nolan’s will go up by over a million dollars a year as a result of the carbon tax. That’s going to make it harder for the growers. It’s going to make it harder for the market sellers. It’s going to make it harder for the retailers, for the wholesalers. Every transaction in this country is going to be impacted by the carbon tax. Everything that people do or buy is going to be impacted by the carbon tax. That’s why the best thing we can do to promote certainty and stability is to stop Labor’s big new taxes starting with the carbon tax.
QUESTION:
So, if you do get a lot of concerns from business groups saying maybe once it’s in it should stay in, you’ll ignore it?
TONY ABBOTT:
Have you ever met anyone who says, “I want to keep a tax?” I mean, the thing that everyone wants to do is get taxes down, get taxes off. Lower, simpler, fairer, fewer taxes – that’s what the Coalition is on about.
