TURNBULL'S CARBON TAX HITS HURDLE
Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun
June 19, 2018 8:09am
Abbott's objection to this carbon tax is the better: Labor is warning that a government proposal to impose 10 years of legislated emissions cuts on the electricity sector will be too weak and will undermine its support for Malcolm Turnbull’s signature energy policy, which also faces the prospect of a backbench rebellion led by Tony Abbott...
Details of the national energy guarantee released last week revealed the 100 biggest users of electricity — those with a peak load of more than 5 megawatts — would be accountable for the reliability of supply, sparking concern from the Ai Group and Energy Users Association of Australia.
Mr Abbott yesterday signalled he could oppose the proposed NEG even if it was approved by the COAG energy council in August. He likened it to a “carbon tax in disguise” ...
This is a policy to punish big energy users and to effectively subsidise green power, all with zero effect on temperatures and with costs passed on consumers. Why is the Turnbull Government doing it? Simon Benson: Likening the national energy guarantee to a carbon tax was a naked attempt from Tony Abbott to raise the stakes in his personal battle with Malcolm Turnbull.
It was a pointed reminder to colleagues that Turnbull has been down this road before...
Many of Turnbull’s colleagues ... have been prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt over the NEG, based on assurances from Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg that it would not be an energy intensity scheme.
But the release of the draft detail design report for the NEG — the nuts and bolts for how it will work — appears to have confirmed that it will indeed be an EIS, if not by name then by its effect...
