Lexi,

The carbon tax was cited directly by the company as one of the factors, if not the primary factor. It will push the company from making a loss to making a bigger loss. The ability to wait out the present situation is gone.

The great thing about tax that governments enjoy is the power to impose,enforce and collect and this applies to carbon tax. Bully for the government. I fail to see how Australia's position on this tax on carbon release will make one iota of difference on a global scale, perhaps someone could enlighten me? It also smacks of hypocrisy considering the vast tonnages of coal we allow private enterprise to export and profit from annually. Quite apart from the loss of a value adding enterprise such as the alumina processing facility the inflationary effect will flow-on to every citizen of this country negatively in spite of the compensatory package. What a pathetically sick joke has been sold to an ignorant and apathetic public. There are ways to deal with planetary pollution, carbon tax monetarism is not one of them.
Den71

Pleathe could you rephrathe thith. Thayankth.
Luddy,
ol' boy. We all agree we need to get off this oil bizo but no-one knows what to replace it with. That's what I meant. Everyone wants everyone else to do "something".
What is that elusive something we all should be doing but never get it done ?
Why not even the Greens have the faintest idea how to live "green".
Maybe silly Gilly's Carbon tax will do "something". Now that would really be "something" wouldn't it ?

SM asks in the first post "will the PM apologise?" Ha ha ha ha, poor old SM has been watching too many Question Times on the TV, where the Liberal drama queens constantly ask "will the PM apologize?". Come on SM, show you can actually think for yourself, try to be at least a little bit original please. I'm just trying to help you, so you can have a bit more intellectual credibility here; your welfare is my primary concern. God bless.

Carbon pricing had ZERO impact on the company's current decision to downsize. They did it because they have been losing money "up till now", and carbon pricing is NON EXISTENT "up till 1st July". A company executive has personally informed the Labor government that carbon pricing had no impact whatsoever on their earnings. Why? Because carbon pricing at this stage DOES NOT EXIST.

The company has said that carbon pricing is one "minor" element of increased "future" costs.

Nice try SM: FAIL.

FP72E and Lexi,

It's started, "The carbon tax made me do it!" will be the cry ahead of and after its introduction for a quarter or two until things settle down and the sky is seen to be staying up OK.

Expect SM and his masters to have a ball during this process, as they have over the NBN, the mining tax, disability insurance, border control etc. etc. etc. Come the election, Australians will soberly determine the flavour of the next government on the basis of what has been achieved, not who has sewn the greatest doubt about their future.