The ETS will most certainly put up-ward pressure on the cost of living. I have written before about the inability of the Federal Government to guarantee that food prices won’t increase under an ETS. Food is of major concern to local families, but some people haven’t realised the major impact an ETS will have on their rates bill.

A green paper prepared by the Australian Local Government Association shows some of the impacts an ETS will have on Local Governments across Australia. The bottom line, according to the ALGA’s report, is an additional $344 million dollars added to Council’s operating costs across Australia. In Logan City I believe the cost to be much higher then previously predicted, based on sound advice from Council officers.

That new tax grab will be used by Canberra to fund household and business carbon reduction schemes. Local governments haven’t even rated a mention as part of the plan to reduce carbon. So ratepayers will cough up for the cost of the system with no real benefit.

Not only will ratepayers see no real benefit from the tax, but there is a huge question mark over whether or not the ETS will even reduce carbon pollution. As mentioned in the ALGA report, this tax will do nothing to actually reduce carbon pollution.

My greatest concern rests with the fact that there are significant number of Councils already operating on limited funds, some on the brink of financial ruins. This ill thought out tax may just push some Councils over their financial threshold. Thirty percent of Councils across the country are suffering extreme financial hardship and this scheme will only add to their problems. In the electorate of Wright there are several smaller Councils that will struggle to manage with the requirements of this scheme.

The State Government is already taxing Local Government landfills so the new carbon tax will be a tax on tax and balloon costs significantly. The proposed tax may lead to the rise in the cost of dumping rubbish to go up by 25%.

We do not yet know the full cost to rate payers of the new tax because the Federal Government will not release full details of their plans. Information I have shows an increase in some of our costs by 20%, and as mentioned in the report all of these costs have to be passed on to ratepayers with no real benefit.

Senator Barnaby Joyce says that the next election will be easy, “If you want a new tax vote for him, his name is Kevin Rudd”. New taxes do not make Governments popular. However, polling is showing that in this instance the Government isn’t suffering because people don’t completely understand the full implications of this tax.

Yes, let’s reduce pollution. But destroy jobs and increase the cost of doing business without any evidence their endeavours will reduce pollution? That’s ridiculous.