Dear Shadow Minister,

It's one thing to make promises whilst in Opposition
but it's a totally different scene once you're in
Government.

Firstly the anger with the Carbon Tax has faded.
Just as the PM said it would. Repealing the carbon tax
will come at a cost to the budget - a big cost,
especially at a time when the incoming treasurer will
be working desperately to get the budget in balance.
It could possibly be rejected by a hostile Senate.

Don't forget that all decisions will be made in a
very different frame from what it is currently,
especially if Joe Hockey is treasurer. He's calling
for an end of the "age of entitlement." Hockey contends
that Government can no longer afford the vanity of
middle-class welfare. And he'll be looking for cuts in
that area. The carbon tax will not be on his mind.

I don't believe that the election will be a referendum on
carbon pricing. And it has proven to be not the Opposition's
best lever against the PM's credibility.

Mr Abbott just may have to re-think his conservative
political formula.

Lexi,

While Labor would have liked the carbon tax issue to have faded to nothing, the anger is still smoldering, and you only have to see the occasional polls that still come out to see that the carbon tax is still as unpopular as it was 2 years ago. Neither have people forgotten how they were lied to. The carbon tax is also eclipsed by the debacle surrounding the boats, the mining tax and a litany of other labor stuff ups.

The carbon tax will be met with a hostile senate, who I am sure will reject the legislation the first time, but the second time which will be a month or so later will test whether the greens and Labor want to hold onto their seats in a DD election, which will be a referendum on the carbon tax.

Dear Shadow Minister,

As I stated previously - carbon was not the Opposition's
best lever againstd the PM's credibility. We've all
heard the lines ad nauseum - "This toxic tax is based on
a lie." All of it in itself is a falsehood made even
more brazen given Mr Abbott's self-declared "weather-vane"
stance on the issue.

And if you thin that the PM is somehow deserving of the
tag of untrustworthiness for changing on the carbon-pricing
issue, then what of Mr Abbott telling SkyNews in 2009 that,
"If you want to put a price on carbon why not just do it
with a simple tax?:

Or is that another of the Opposition leader's - and this
is the same man who admitted on national television that
he has trouble with the "gospel truth" - inconvenient truths?
Like claiming that the cost of a lamb roast will soar to
$100, that whole towns and insutries will disappear and that
our entire economy will be laid to waste.

I've said this earlier that in politics a degree of
rhetorical flourish and a pinch of hyperbole is to be
expected. But when the whole basis of a campaign is a lie
about a lie, then the bar is not being set very high.

Enjoy your Easter break - and I shall see you on another thread.

Lexi,

I believe that you believe it. I deal with many small suppliers and subcontractors, and small retailer, and to a man I have not heard a good word about the carbon tax.

Perhaps you live in a small section of Victoria where labor is held in some regard, but certainly in NSW, QSL and WA, there will be no pity on polling day. If labor forces a DD election there will be a coalition majority in both houses, so I don't see labor dying in a ditch over the carbon tax.

From The Australian,28/03/2013,

<Labor swamped by that sinking feeling

When a senior minister was asked a few days ago to nominate any circumstances that could rescue the Gillard government from catastrophe in September, he offered up one scenario that might offer some hope.

"If the Liberal Party stages a coup and replaces Malcolm Turnbull with Tony Abbott. And that ain't gonna happen." Pretty funny, hey?>

There is no chance that random threads posted on OLO speculating change will further that vain wish. Try the Tooth Fairy.

Dear Shadow Minister,

We both believe what we believe - but you unlike me
seem to
prefer inane slogans and rhetoric to the facts.
Ah well - that's nothing I can do anything about.
You aren't alone in this. BTW - I've always lived
in big cities. Originally from Sydney, I no live in Melbourne
in an electorate that's a safe Liberal seat. Always
has been.

Dear onthebeach,

The tooth fairy would be a better choice - at least
it leaves money and doesn't make cuts.