The countdown to Labor’s costly carbon tax bureaucracy gets serious this Christmas, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today.
 
“When Australians rest their heads on their pillows this Christmas Eve, it will be one sleep to their last Christmas before the carbon tax and just 100 sleeps to the start of the taxpayer funded carbon tax bureaucracy,” Senator Birmingham said.
 
The Gillard Government has announced its Clean Energy Regulator will begin operations on 2 April 2012.
 
“The clock is ticking towards Labor’s giant new carbon tax bureaucracy, with at least four different bureaucratic organisations being newly established as part of Julia Gillard’s carbon tax regime.
 
“Through Senate Estimates and the Government’s own documents we know this Clean Energy Regulator will cost $256 million over the four-year forward estimates, with around 330 staff to be appointed.
 
“That’s on top of the staff and costs associated with the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the $25 million Climate Change Authority.
 
“Taxpayers will pay for the carbon tax through increased cost of living and reduced job certainty, but are already paying for a bloated public service.
 
“Millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent year after year to administer Julia Gillard’s massive money-go-round designed to drive up the cost of everything.
 
“Australians might be ready for Santa’s annual goodwill visit, but there’s little they can do to prepare for the Clean Energy Regulator’s invasion of not just their chimneys but the cost of every aspect of their lives – including any Christmas or holiday spending.”