Senator Eric Abetz

“Yesterday we saw the spectacle of Tasmania’s Labor representatives blindly supporting Julia Gillard’s deceit of the Tasmanian people complicit in the Prime Minister’s lie before the last election that there would be no Carbon Tax under a Government she leads,” Senator Abetz said today.

“Today Labor’s Lisa Singh, when asked by Leon Compton on ABC radio, was unable to identify one single Tasmanian business on the list of the so-called big polluters who will have to pay Julia Gillard’s job destroying Carbon Tax.”

“Senator Singh who was sent out to blindly spruik Labor’s Carbon Tax has no idea of the businesses that will be directly affected by the Carbon Tax in Tasmania.”

“Instead Senator Singh said it’s something for Treasury and the Department of Climate Change to work out.”

Leon Compton: “Of the 500 biggest polluters that the Government talks about and this Tax falling on them, how many of them are in Tasmania?”

Lisa Singh: “…Um…I’d have to get back to you on that Leon…Ahh…I know that…Ahh…you know that there are…I think…Ahh…maybe one or two in the north of the State.”   

“Given that Senator Singh effusively states on her own website that she once assisted the Labor Government in Tasmania on Climate Change policy one would think she would have some idea about the impact the Carbon Tax will have on Tasmanian business - apparently not.”

“Ms Singh’s cavalier approach to the effects of this tax on Tasmanian businesses reflects poorly on what concern, or lack thereof, Ms Singh has regarding this issue.

“Senator Singh’s attitude is typical of Labor’s approach to community anger over Carbon Tax and that’s ‘we lied to you over the Carbon Tax, get over it’,” Senator Abetz said.

“For the record Senator Singh some of the businesses which will be paying Labor’s Carbon Tax in Tasmania include Aurora, Goliath, Australian Paper, Grange Resources (Savage River Mine), Launceston City Council, Norske Skog (Boyer), Rio Tinto (Bell Bay), and Temco.”