THE member for Indi Sophie Mirabella was adamant yesterday that manufacturing jobs would return to Australia if the carbon tax was abolished.
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The opposition industry spokeswoman, said during a visit to Wodonga steel manufacturer Kiewa Valley Engineering that the Coalition stood by its view that electricity prices would fall once the tax was repealed.
“The price of electricity will come down with the abolition of the carbon tax,” she said.
“By getting rid of the carbon tax, not only will we be making it easier for household budgets, but we’ll be bringing down the cost of making things in Australia.”
When asked how getting rid of the carbon tax would bring back manufacturing jobs, Mrs Mirabella said it was “very simple”.
“If you speak to any business, if you can’t compete against imported, cheaper products you can’t employ people and you have to close up and go offshore,” she said.
“So, one of the significant increases in costs for manufacturers, who are high users of electricity, has been the carbon tax, which has pushed up prices.”
Manufacturing lost 106,775 jobs from 2007 to last year — well before the carbon tax was implemented — while the Australian Council of Trade Unions says more than 108,000 jobs were lost during the Howard government era.
Mrs Mirabella maintained, when asked how the Coalition could guarantee energy companies would bring down their prices if the tax were repealed: “The electricity will come down with the abolition of the carbon tax”.
Her comments follow as figures released this week showed greenhouse emissions had fallen in the first year of the tax.
Pollution from electricity generation has fallen 12 million tonnes in the past year, and Australia is using 13 per cent less brown coal and 28 per cent more renewable energy.
But Mrs Mirabella refused to acknowledge the cuts: “What I’ve seen is a lot of jobs exported and a lot of emissions exported offshore to other nations that don’t have the same efficiency and environmental standards as we do”.
She said the Coalition would bring down energy costs, reduce business compliance costs and to ensure “the world’s best anti-dumping regime”.
Kiewa Valley Engineering owner Andrew Robin said his company didn’t pay the tax but suffered “the consequences indirectly” through energy costs.
Mr Robin agreed his power costs had doubled in five years, not in the year since the carbon tax was introduced.
He said one of the biggest challenges facing business was a lack of confidence in the economy.
Mr Robin said, when asked whether getting rid of the carbon tax would improve confidence: “I think a change of government will
