Hi Belly, I agree on the concept of the carbon tax though useage limits would be fairer, like rationing - tradeable on an exchange. How the tax stops pollution when Aus is exporting massive amounts of coal to be burned overseas is beyond my understanding. Given that governments change, my bet is that like road tax and fuel tax it will eventually become just consolidated revenue and used nothing to do with pollution. The reason power prices are up is, in NSW, that last year the government drew out all revenue and capital profits as dividends - $1.6 billion. They left all the debt that had been accumulated building up those assets sold, in the power companies for us consumers to service and repay. No decent company directors pay out 100% of profits. Usually it would be 5%. Electricity sales have simply become a tax, just like petrol prices. High pertol prices have not reduced petrol consumption. Governments should go back to subsidising solar and wind power and legislate for it on every roof in Aus by 2020. What do you think?

Belly: "Carbon pricing, and it will come as a shock to some, is to drive change not tax us more. That cost is a needed one. To contain man made climate change."

No one has been able to table empirical scientific evidence that anthropogenic CO2 emissions have caused climate change. So, unless you want to penalise everyone by raising electricity prices, what is the point of imposing carbon dioxide taxes?

The carbon tax is simply a permit to pollute.

Had the actual polluters been hit with a tax, that's us by the way, we WOULD HAVE reduced our consumption and who knows, power prices may have come down as reduced demands may have caused competition from the generators, who may well have discounted to maintain or increase market share.

With the current system, the generators get taxed, then simply pass it on.

Yet another failure of this incompitent government.

Meanwhile they are searching high and wide for any way to fudge a surplus, although I think they are actually looking for the best excuse to do a back flip on that promise as well.

So we come full circle.
So many threads so many words, we even have a thread right now,active, about climate change.
Sonofgloin, well you may think as you wish, unless it hurts.
I rather thought of others in saying some would be supprised.
But if the head cover fits, and you feel warm and comfortable in it,it is yours.
Not going to fall for the warmist, junk.
I know man is having an effect, and see evidence of it every day.
Higher electricity? 10% any claim of higher is self deceit.
How much has Petrol gone up vs electricity in the past ten years?

What are the impacts of that higher fuel price.
What effect has the extreme by percentage rises in tax on smokes and beer had.
Recent wine flask rises?
Transport fares as a result of point one?
Child care?
Interest rates fall, has that countered the carbon tax?

579

Firstly, I am not a climate change sceptic, however, I do believe that money is behind all this global warming/climate change propaganda.

You say, More intense weather patterns, It's hard to say nothing is changing.

But how then do we explain the ice age, as man had no influence on that.

Now while I admit there is a problem, in my opinion, the answer is not in massively reducing outputs, but rather, in finding ways to deal with the problem, because reductions will mean loss of jobs.

Now as for the carbon tax, now there's a laugh.

It was designed to force power generators to shut down, yet, once the numbers were crunched and they realize they could simply pass the tax on as it is little more than a permit to pollute, whammo, up go power prices.

I still say the users should pay the tax, not the generator, as the only reason they generate ( profits aside) is to feed the demands of the user as once a business is called upon to collect, or administer a tax, the costs of doing so are often added to the end price the consumer pays.

Now I say user pays, as firstly, the tax could have been smaller, as there were less accounting and profit making hands to pass through and, it would have persuaded many to reduce there usage, hence, reducing generation outputs, and ultimately, reducing emissions.

So now we have Julia, running around like a headless chook, trying to find ways to reduce power prices, prices that she influenced in the first place.

In fact, labor are fast becoming exposed for there inabillities, as they seek to plug the holes for the likes of power price reductions, NDI scheme, education, health and there fast crumbling ambitious quest for a bogus surplus.

At least we are heading into an election year.