Our carbon tax just got more insane

[nero_bolt]

Europe’s carbon price is now just a fifth of Australia’s absurd $23 a tonne:

European Union carbon permits posted their biggest weekly drop since January as nations and other policy makers considered a plan to temporarily remove supply from the market.

EU carbon for December fell 11 percent this week to close at 3.78 euros ($4.94) a metric ton on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London

In two years, under Labor’s policy, we’ll be linked to Europe’s price. Current prices suggest that compensation pitched now for a $23 a tonne price will then be funded by a tax that’s just a fraction of that, leaving a multi-billion-dollar hole.

(labor wont care as it wont be their problem as they will be voted out leaving their mess to someone else to fix)

Time Climate Change Minister Greg Combet came clean on his mendacious spin.

Meanwhile, China keeps stalling on its own miniscule tax:

China will wait until after this year to introduce a tax on carbon, deferring to concern that economic growth might suffer, a government researcher said.

The nation eventually expects to introduce a levy of 5 yuan to 10 yuan (80 cents to $1.61) per ton of carbon, Jia Kang, head of research at the Ministry of Finance, said in Beijing yesterday.

In New Zealand, where the main source of electricity is hydro power anyway, the carbon price is in t...

We really do look ridiculous in our gold-plated global warming evangelism.

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/andrewbolt/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/our_carbon_tax_just_got_more_insane/

[newstart2380]

 ''oh, we are still suffering from gillards something or other''

LL remember those words, it may b u thinking this in a few years when the Libs are still cleaning up the mess inherited from JG and her government. She will walk away and sit up the back with all the other "has beens" and laugh at us all with her PM"s pension.

[izabsmiling]

Peter Macks, principal of Adelaide-based insolvency firm Macks Advisory, said the carbon tax was "quite debilitating" for a number of hotel operators who he said had been "struggling for a long time".

"It is very tough operating at a profit," Mr Macks said.

 Some Hotel operators have been struggling for a long time .Could this be a good thing ? 

Have anything to do with people perhaps choosing the cheaper option of drinking at home or changing their drinking habits in some other way ?

[newstart2380]

Some Hotel operators have been struggling for a long time .Could this be a good thing ? 

Have anything to do with people perhaps choosing the cheaper option of drinking at home or changing their drinking habits in some other way ?

[/quote]

(tongue in cheek reply) Yes, it's great because I can drink myself stupid at home and just fall into bed without being breathalysed and risk losing my licence. LOL I won't say it costs less because I have very expensive taste.

But seriously  - most younger people who intend going out for a night drink before they go and are half charged before they go anywhere because it is to expensive at the pubs and night clubs. So, I think it has more to do with the price of a drink than the carbon tax.

[izabsmiling]

So, I think it has more to do with the price of a drink than the carbon tax.

I agree  🙂

[freakiness]

Just to add some balance:

Abbott's cotton-wool  wrecking ball

Stephen  Koukoulas7 Mar, 8:04 AMClimate Policy &  Politics

Australia has now had a price on carbon for  a little over eight months.

Some people in positions of power and  influence were expecting the carbon tax, as it has colloquially become known, to  either “act as a wrecking ball across the economy” or be "absolutely  catastrophic", "wipe out jobs big-time" while towns like Whyalla would be "wiped  off the map" because of it.

Further, it would create “ghost towns” and  “discourage investment” in mining.

Get the drift? There were forecasts that  the carbon tax would completely undermine economic growth and market  conditions.

How accurate have these projections  been?

With economic data flowing in and financial  markets trading over those eight months, it is possible to test the validity of  forecasts of “wrecking balls” and catastrophe.

The facts below are all based on the latest  Australian Bureau of Statistics or Reserve Bank data, unless otherwise  indicated.

Since the carbon price was  introduced:

– Real GDP has risen by 1.2 per cent  (annualised growth rate of 2.5 per cent).

– Employment has risen by 53,400 people,  made up of 30,000 new full-time jobs and 23,400 part-time jobs. The annualised  rate of job creation is around 95,000.

– The unemployment rate has edged up to 5.4  per cent in January 2013 from 5.3 per cent in June 2012, just before carbon was  priced.

– The stock market (All Ordinaries Index)  has risen 25 per cent, adding approximately $296 billion to the value of  Australian shares. A further $30 billion or so of dividends have been paid to  shareholders since June 30, 2012.

– According to RP Data, house prices have  risen 2.8 per cent since June 30, 2012, adding approximately $110 billion to the  wealth of owners of houses.

At this point I might pause. Have a think  about those last two points: the gains in stock market values and house prices  alone have been nearly $410 billion in just over eight months. That is just  under $50,000 per Australian household, on average.

– In terms of inflation, the CPI has risen  by 1.6 per cent in six months, a figure which includes the boost to prices from  the carbon price driven lift in electricity and gas prices. Underlying inflation  has risen 1.3 per cent in the six months (annualised pace of 2.7 per cent) and  this figure has also been inflated by the carbon price.

– The wages price index has risen by 1.5  per cent in six months (annualised pace of 3.1 per cent), locking in a period of  moderate wage increases.

– Average weekly earning have risen by  $39.10 a week (from May 2012 to November 2012) with an annualised increase of  $2035.

– The value of retail sales has risen by  just 0.1 per cent (annualised rate 0.3 per cent).

– The number of new motor vehicle  registrations has risen by 4.7 per cent with the six largest monthly number of  new car sales ever recorded being registered in the last six months.

– The number of dwelling building approvals  has fallen 10.1 per cent since June and the number of new housing loans for  owner occupation has fallen 0.1 per cent over the same period.

– The NAB measure of business conditions  has fallen from -1 points in June to -2 points in January, but business  confidence has risen from -3 points to +3 points over the same  timeframe.

– The Westpac measure of consumer sentiment  has risen by 13.3 per cent since June to be at a 38-month high.

– The RBA index of commodity prices has  fallen 5.4 per cent in Australian dollar terms since June and has fallen 2.1 per  cent in US dollar terms.

– The RBA has cut the official cash rate  from 3.5 per cent to 3 per cent.

– The 10-year government bond yield has  risen a net 35 basis points to 3.40 per cent as of yesterday’s close.

– The Australian dollar has risen around  0.9 per cent as strong foreign inflows into Australia continue.

At the same time, Australia’s triple-A  credit rating from all three ratings agencies remains unchallenged.

So a wrecking ball? Catastrophic? Wiped off  the map?

The disconcerting thing is that all of  those dire predictions from above were made by Tony Abbott, the man who studied  economics at university and the man likely to be prime minister in a little over  six months.

Stephen  Koukoulas was senior  economic policy advisor to Prime Minister Julia Gillard between September 2010  and July 2011.

Read more: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/3/7/policy-politics/abbotts-cotton-wool-wrecking-ba...

[freakiness]

 ''oh, we are still suffering from gillards something or other''

LL remember those words, it may b u thinking this in a few years when the Libs are still cleaning up the mess inherited from JG and her government. She will walk away and sit up the back with all the other "has beens" and laugh at us all with her PM"s pension.

That just proves that it's not a fear based on genuine concerns.

It all still seems to come back to Australians not handling a woman in the top job.

Gillard's something or other?

What is the huge mess you speak of?

Would that be the AAA credit rating?

The low interest rates?

The low unemployment?

[newstart2380]

That just proves that it's not a fear based on genuine concerns.

It all still seems to come back to Australians not handling a woman in the top job.

Gillard's something or other?

What is the huge mess you speak of?

Would that be the AAA credit rating?

The low interest rates?

The low unemployment?

I have absolutely no problems with either gender and have never commented whether we have male or female as PM. It's all about having the necessary skills to do the job and I don't believe she has, saying that she has not got enough talented people behind her.

I can sum up answers to all of the above in one phrase " out of control deficit" .

[the_hawk*]

Gillard's something or other?  ?

What is the huge mess you speak of?  =business packing up and moving over seas

Would that be the AAA credit rating?   = yer equal to the US and the EU and we how well that is going http://chartsbin.com/view/1175

The low interest rates? = yes because the economy was heading into recession, and by the way the stock market is going up because people are moving money from interest earning accounts because interest rates have collapsed back into the shock market pushing prices up.

The low unemployment? = and we all know these are shonky figures

[monman12]

"The low unemployment? = and we all know these are shonky figures"  Proof please.

"Would that be the AAA credit rating?   = yer equal to the US and the EU"
Actually we are AAA,  the USA is AA+, and the EU is not rated  because each member state is listed individually.,

As for people now shifting away from bank interest bearing accounts you are correct, but apart from working capital,  I would never  have (had) funds in a bank when you consider the blue chip fully franked stocks returning a far better dividend rate.

Telstra for instance have been paying a guaranteed  fully franked divided  of 28cents (40cents with franking credit) for 8 years and those I bought  a couple of years ago return myself nearly 15% per annum

[freakiness]

More terrible news re the evil carbon price

http://www.beaudeserttimes.com.au/beaudesert/215-carbon-tax-turnaround

EIGHT months on from the introduction of the Federal Government’s controversial carbon tax, one of its most vocal opponents in the Scenic Rim now says the tax has been a “positive” for Bromelton business AJ Bush & Sons.

In the lead up to and since the tax’s introduction, AJ Bush & Sons has been the focus of stories highlighting the impact of the carbon tax on business, with manager David Kassulke previously expressing grave concerns over the tax.

In July last year, Senator Barnaby Joyce joined local MP Scott Buchholz in touring the business, pledging to repeal the carbon tax if the Coalition wins the next election.

As one of Australia’s top 500 polluters, AJ Bush & Sons is slugged heavily for every tonne of its carbon emissions and expects to pay a carbon tax bill of $1.2m on March 31 for the first nine months of the financial year.

Add to this an extra $175,000 in electricity charges and price hike across the board of about 16 per cent for the company’s products, and Mr Kassulke is the first to admit the tax has hit hard.

However, he now also says the tax has had a positive impact on the business.

A dollar for dollar $6.2 million grant from the government’s clean technology food and foundries investment program has put AJ Bush well on the way to slashing emissions, with the company confident its rendering operation will eventually be removed from the ‘top 500 polluters’ list.

With construction of a new biogas plant due to start this year, the company expects to cut carbon emissions from 82,000 to 25,000 tonnes per year.

The company also expects to cut its coal usage by 50 per cent and to produce 50 per cent of the company’s electricity requirements onsite.

The end result of the introduction of the new biogas technology will not only be a saving of millions of dollars in energy and carbon costs, but also an opportunity for the company to be positioned at the cutting edge of renewable energy technology in the rendering industry, Mr Kassulke said.

A vocal opponent of the carbon tax prior to its introduction by the Labor government on July 1 2012, Mr Kassulke now readily admits he has changed his tune.

While sourcing new technology to improve the rendering plant’s energy efficiency was effectively forced on the company, he now sees it as a “positive thing”.

So much so that he is confident AJ Bush will ultimately be in a much more competitive position in the marketplace as a direct result of the tax.

“We have always been focussed on energy efficiency because we use one million kilowatt hours of electricity per month and use around 2000 tonne of coal per month,” he said.

“The (biogas technology) investment is a good way to modernise and will dramatically reduce our emissions.

“It will mean that we will reduce our emissions to the point where we will no longer be a big polluter any more.

“What the imposition of the carbon tax has done is make industry take stock of what it is currently doing and has forced it to look at doing things in a better way.

“It means companies are now looking at ways to use less energy which equates to less cost and a subsequent reduction in the tax that is being levied.

“That has been the intention of the tax and clearly from that perspective it is working and working well.”

If, as promised, the LNP under the leadership of Tony Abbott win government in September and repeal the carbon tax, Mr Kassulke said he would continue to forge ahead with the new biogas plant regardless.

“Initially we calculated the carbon tax would cost the company $26,000 per employee per year, but now we see things differently and are taking advantage of the situation,” he said.

“When all work is completed we will be able to set new standards in energy efficiency.

“We will use that much less in coal every month, that much less in electricity every month and will not have so many cost imposts, it is all positive.”