The carbon tax isn’t even law yet but the Gillard Government has already started building the massive bureaucracy it needs to administer it, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today.
In response to questioning from Senator Birmingham in a Senate Supplementary Budget Estimates hearing this morning, the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) has revealed:
- around 330 staff are to be appointed to the new Clean Energy Regulator (at a cost of $256 million over the forward estimates);
- around 45 staff are to be appointed to the new Climate Change Authority (at a cost of $25 million over the forward estimates);
- in net terms at least 200 new positions are to be created across the climate change portfolio;
- at least 50 new employees (within the 200 new positions) have already been engaged to implement the planned carbon tax; and
- there are currently 104 staff in the newly established regulatory division of the DCCEE, which currently has a total of 1013 staff.
On top of this are hundreds of likely new staff in the new $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the new $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which DCCEE wouldn’t answer questions about given they are both being created within other portfolios.
“Labor’s carbon tax isn’t even law yet but that isn’t stopping a ballooning bureaucracy,” Senator Birmingham said today.
“Taxpayers will pay for the carbon tax not only through increased cost of living and reduced job certainty, but also through a bloated public service.
“Millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent year after year to administer this massive money-go-round designed to drive up the cost of everything.
“Labor’s bureaucracy is already ballooning under the weight of the carbon tax.
“Sadly, these hundreds of new public service jobs created by the carbon tax will pale into insignificance compared to the many thousands of private sector jobs placed under pressure by the carbon tax.”