Coulton continues fight against Labor’s ETS
11-February-2010
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton has highlighted the devastating impacts the Rudd Government’s ETS is set to have on the electorate if it is passed into law.
During a debate on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and Associated Bills 2010 legislation Mr Coulton warned Parliament of the dire consequences for regional Australia if the scheme is enacted.
Mr Coulton said that as a result of the Rudd Government’s great big new tax residents of the Parkes electorates will face a huge increase in the cost of living and widespread job losses.
However, he warned the consequences for the residents of Kandos would be far more dire.
“The town of Kandos is in real trouble,” he said.
“At the moment, the cost of producing cement in Kandos and the cost of importing it from China or Indonesia are about line ball.
“But with costs for the Kandos cement plant set to increase by 30 per cent under the tax and with its competitors from China and Indonesia having no such charges imposed upon them, the plant is going to close and they will be importing cement from China or Indonesia into Port Botany.
“That is the reality of it. That town of Kandos has one major employer. There are 1,400 people and one major employer. The town has an excellent high school and a wonderful primary school, and a lot of the other jobs spin off from that plant.
“If it closes down, a lot of the small businesses - the supermarket, the local butcher, the newsagent, the garage - will be unviable.
Mr Coulton slammed the Rudd Government for failing to explain how its ETS will reduce global temperatures.
“If they could explain to me, for example, how this legislation is going to reduce the temperature of the globe or how it is going to make it rain in the upper catchments of the Murray-Darling so that we can return agriculture to full production, I would vote for it. But they have not done that,” he said.
“What the Government has done is sold out the people of Australia. They have sold them down the drain. They are making them uncompetitive with the rest of the world for the sake of votes.
“This is the single biggest issue that we as a country need to deal with in our generation.
“If we do not get this right, our country in the near future, as well as future generations, will be paying for this for years to come.”