Abbott tells miners to defeat carbon tax
Paul Osborne, AAP Senior Political Writer, AAP June 1, 2011, 5:54 pm
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The opposition leader has made a passionate appeal to the mining industry to fight carbon pricing.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has urged the mining industry to become "political activists"
and defeat the carbon tax, as the government accused him of misrepresenting the facts behind its climate plan.
A final decision on a carbon pricing mechanism is expected by early July, ahead of legislation being introduced to parliament by September and a fixed carbon price starting on July 1, 2012.
The multi-party climate change committee working on the scheme is awaiting two reports, by Treasury and the Productivity Commission, before holding its final round of meetings.
Mr Abbott told a lunch with mining executives in Canberra on Wednesday they needed to step up their lobbying efforts.
"I know none of you likes to be political activists ... But I say to you that at this time you need to become political activists at least for a few months, at least for a couple of years, if you are going to be able to continue to be the miners that you want to be and that Australia needs," he said.
Mr Abbott said putting a price on carbon was a tax grab which would cut jobs, destroy exporters, end the coal industry and was a "go it alone attempt to save the world".
He vowed to tour the country "every day" that parliament wasn't sitting to warn blue-collar workers of job losses under a carbon tax and the cost to households.
The opposition leader told parliament a report released this week by Professor Ross Garnaut - which updated his landmark 2008 study on climate change - had recommended an independent body make final decisions about carbon pricing.
But Prime Minister Julia Gillard seized on the remark as showing how Mr Abbott continued to misrepresent the carbon pricing issue.
"He owes Professor Garnaut an apology for his conduct," Ms Gillard said, telling parliament the government would make any final decision on setting targets and caps under an emissions trading scheme.
"You (Mr Abbott) rely on falsehoods and fear when you don't have a rational argument."
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet told parliament claims of food prices skyrocketing were also misleading, as modelling had suggested a rise of between 0.6 and 0.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, climate change committee member, independent MP Rob Oakeshott, said he expects the "final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle" to fall into place shortly, when the Productivity Commission and Treasury reports are finalised.
"I think there is an agreement waiting to happen that is substantially better than what was being put to the last parliament," he said.
"But we've still got a lot of negotiating to do - this can go wrong very easily."
Greens deputy leader Christine Milne, who is also on the committee, said it was important to stick to the July timeframe and legislate by the end of the year.
She said the committee was now at the "pointy end", with the major discussion focusing on how households and industry would be assisted.
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