Labor shows its colours on a carbon tax, again

George Christensen MP Mark Butler Carbon Tax.jpg

A question from Labor’s shadow environment minister in Parliament yesterday gave a clear indication that a future Labor Government would introduce a carbon tax.

Their question was basically this: Some expert has said that if the Coalition underwrites a coal-fired power station in Collinsville it’s going to cost taxpayers a lot of money when a carbon price comes in.

What they are in effect flagging is that in the future, a Labor government will bring in a carbon tax.

That is the only thing that will negatively impact on a Collinsville power station – if a future government imposes a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme.

The government’s Underwriting New Generation Investments (UNGI) Program has been established to provide certainty to investors and financiers who want to go ahead with reliable energy projects such as clean coal-fired power.

The only way that the UNGI Program will cost the taxpayer money is if a future government brings in a carbon tax or the like that puts unexpected costs onto a new power station.

An Energy Edge report undertaken for the Palaszczuk Government’s Department of Energy and Water Supply outlines the profitability of clean coal-fired power.

The report states that the potential introduction of a 750MW Ultra Supercritical (or clean) coal-fired power station in North Queensland was profitable in just about all scenarios, except if a carbon price was introduced.

We have also had an earlier report from GHD, funded by the then Gillard Labor government, noting the following: ‘A major (800MW) coal fired power station will put strong downward pressure on electricity prices with a potential $836 million Social Cost benefit gain.’

A GenCost 2018 report commissioned by CSIRO and AEMO also points out that clean coal is cost competitive without a carbon price.

The problem here isn’t the profitability of coal-fired power.

The problem is that Labor and the Greens are hell-bent on destroying the resources sector and the thousands of jobs and regional communities that depend on it.

Labor, the party of tax and spend, also does not seem to understand that overseas buyers of our high quality coal pour billions into the country’s coffers and provide us with an incredible standard of living.

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