I was gobsmacked listening to a cabinet minister attempting to sell the government's direct action plan - specifically by comparing it to the 'rip off' carbon tax, and claiming that they are the saviours of the consumer's hip-pocket by taking the carbon tax off their electricity bill.

The very idea is pure comedy given that direct action consists of paying billions of tax-payer money to big business to say "pretty please, can you reduce your emissions?" Which becomes even more of a farce now we know that most of the money has gone to emission-reducing projects that industry was going to do anyway!

This is billions of dollars that could be going into schools and hospitals. Not to mention the billions that have been lost in lost carbon tax revenue.

Tony should have asked Barnaby how much more his beloved constituency will be paying in medical bills because his government is diverting literally billions for a different carbon tax.

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 29^th, 2015 at 10:50am:


The problem is, Barnaby's got Turnbull over a barrel on this one. The whole electricity prices versus action on climate change ruse is a complete porkie. With the carbon tax, the electricity companies were free to change to renewables and avoid paying the tax.

With direct action, the taxpayer pays the electricity companies to do what they were going to do anyway. And Barnaby gets away with pretending he's keeping electricity costs down for the poorest people in Australia.

The National Party must have had a revelation. They've gone from defending the mining companies and electricity generators who pay for their re-election to speaking up for pensioners.

Given the effect of the carbon tax on electricity bills, this has to be the biggest con ever dumped on the Australian public.

Hello, companies! Got a bill to pay? No problem! Make the taxpayer pick up the tab. Socialise the losses! As only the Liberals and Nationals do.

The so-called "direct action plan" is a farce. Do we really think for a second that giving out taxpayers' money for over 100 projects that were already completed would stand scrutiny?

This policy costs as much as the carbon levy did. The difference is that the cost is buried deep inside consolidated revenue rather than being on the bill for all to see.

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 29^th, 2015 at 10:50am:


My electricity supplier sent me a letter saying electricity will be cheaper since Liberals got rid of that carbon tax.

The carbon tax is a rip off pushed by dopey dim witted leftists who push their climate religion.

The idiots who priced the solar feed in tariff at 60 cents kwh need to be fired along with the idots who hired them.
That resulted in poor people without solar subsidising those with solar.

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 29^th, 2015 at 12:15pm:


It's the most obvious snowjob I've ever seen attempted. And if it went unquestioned on Q&A, imagine how it'll play out on talkback radio.

Baronvonrort wrote on Sep 29^th, 2015 at 12:16pm:

The only dopey people in this debate are the slow-witted rightards without critical thinking abilities who buy into CRA Mining's (now a part of Rio Tinto) propaganda lines from 1989-1992.

Their corporate propaganda from c. 1989-1992 went like this:
Quote:


Sound familiar? That's where the bunk comes from. Corporate boardrooms of vested interests. Australia was ready to act on climate change 25 years ago, until the vested interests started destroying the policy debate.

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 29^th, 2015 at 12:15pm:


Those photos of Barnaby and Gina raise a few eyebrows.

Bam wrote on Sep 29^th, 2015 at 12:29pm:


What's your problem? Climate change has been debunked and now only the province of activists and hysterics. CO2 has been show to lag BEHIND warming and not in fact lead it. Given all of that, why would we want to seriously damage the economy all to attack a non-existant problem with methods that would never work anyhow?