Don’t think the carbon dioxide wars are over in Australia. What turmoil lies ahead. The Coalition looks like easily winning the election on Saturday (though Jeff Kennett points out he lost an election people thought he would win). If they win, they’ve promised to wipe out the Labor Party’s carbon tax. Abbott was made leader on this issue in December 2009, and has vowed “in blood” to remove it. But after this election the Senate will still be controlled by a Labor Green majority until July next year, when the new senators (whoever they may be) take over half the Senate. Yesterday Tony Abbott renewed his pledge that this election is about “the carbon tax”, and if he wins, but If the Senate won’t pass his climate change legislation, he is determined to pull the switch and call a double dissolution election. The stakes are high. For the sake of foreign readers, the double dissolution is a rare event that, unlike a normal election, means every senator is suddenly out of a job and up for reelection (not just the usual half a Senate at a time). We could, in theory, have another bigger election in early 2014 and if we did, it might wipe out the Labor Green majority in the Senate– but it is a risky move for both sides. Andrew Bolt points out that the Labor Party under Rudd-Renewed have promised to “terminate the carbon tax” themselves, so they look like hypocrites extraordinare if they did not pass an Abbott government plan. But of course, they were not terminating it at all, just changing a direct tax to an indirect one through a trading scheme. It’s just tricky wordsmithing; they are wedded to a “carbon price”. Paul Kelly (Editor-at-large for The Australian) claims Labor is trapped, can’t give it up, and won’t pass Abbott’s repeal of the Carbon Tax. Does a double dissolution beckon?
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 13:11:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015