Gillard to Spend A$12 Million on Carbon Tax Ads
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government will start a A$12 million ($13 million) television advertising campaign to help explain its carbon tax policy as her support slumps in opinion polls.
“This advertising campaign is about getting people information,” Gillard told Channel Nine’s “Weekend Today” program. “There’ll be A$12 million of television advertising and another A$13 million allocated to getting people the information they need.”
Gillard is touring the nation to try to reverse public opposition to the tax announced on July 10. The government plans to cut taxes for workers to offset the impact on about 500 businesses of a levy that is expected to raise prices.
In a Newspoll survey published July 12, support for Gillard declined to 38 percent, while 43 percent of respondents said they preferred opposition leader Tony Abbott as prime minister, according the poll published in the Australian newspaper.
Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia’s strong economic position with low unemployment, record terms of trade and a strong investment pipeline made the introduction of a carbon tax feasible in the face of global economic uncertainty.
“We’re not immune from global economic developments but our region remains strong -- we have an underlying strength in our economy, we have low unemployment, we have a strong invest pipeline and we have record terms of trade,” Swan told the “Meet the Press” program. “Now is the time to put in place this fundamental reform because if we delay it just gets costlier by the year.”
Mining Investment
Australia’s jobless rate is at 4.9 percent, compared with 9.1 percent in the U.S. Record investment in mining projects and commodity prices close to all-time highs helped the local currency in the world’s biggest iron ore, coal and alumina exporter advance 20 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past 12 months. The so-called Aussie bought $1.0653 as of July 15.
While the Labor government has secured support for the tax from Greens and independent lawmakers, whom Gillard relies on for a majority in parliament, 68 percent of Australians say they expect to be worse off under carbon pricing, according to a Galaxy poll published by the Daily Telegraph newspaper last week.
The government’s advertising campaign will begin on television networks later today.
Main Polluters
Australia expects to raise about A$27.8 billion in three years by making polluters pay an initial charge of A$23 per ton of carbon dioxide, increasing the price by 2.5 percent a year, plus inflation. The country will switch to a cap-and-trade system in 2015, while providing about A$47 billion through 2020 to help households and industries and spur renewable energy.
To sweeten carbon trading for the public the government has promised that nine out of 10 households will get either a tax cut or increased benefits to help cope with a forecast A$9.90 ($10.53) per week increase in prices from the carbon plan.
Coal mining companies in Australia will be required to pay for fugitive emissions -- gas emitted naturally from coal operations -- while receiving A$1.3 billion in compensation, with the biggest polluters getting assistance over six years, according to the government.
The tax will make certain projects uneconomical and cost jobs, the Minerals Council of Australia said. The Australian Coal Association said overseas coal buyers may switch to other nations, forcing mine closures.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elisabeth Behrmann in Sydney at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
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