The arrogance of the Rudd Labor Government has been on display, with the Government’s Leader in the Senate today suggesting the cost impacts of its proposed massive new tax on everything was not a relevant matter for Question Time.
 
The comment from Senator Chris Evans came in response to a question from Senator Simon Birmingham, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Action, about how much electricity prices would rise under the Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme.
 
“… the impact of our ETS is a relevant consideration when the parliament passes the legislation.”
                        Senator Chris Evans, Hansard, 2 February 2010
 
“This appalling remark is typical of the arrogance of a Rudd Government out of touch with the impact its massive tax on everything will have on ordinary Australians,” Senator Birmingham said today.
 
“Projections suggest that the Government’s ETS will cost Australian households $1100 per year.
 
“This massive new tax slug is relevant now as the Parliament considers the Government’s reintroduced legislation, despite having already been twice defeated.
 
“The Coalition has today presented a real alternative to the Australian people, with a policy for direct action to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by the Government’s own target of 5 per cent – without Mr Rudd’s great big tax on everything.
 
“For so long as the Rudd Government insists on reintroducing bad legislation that’s already been defeated, it must not avoid scrutiny of it in the Australian Parliament.”