Carbon tax exclusion
At least the Northern Territory isn’t as dumb as the rest of Australia. They’re bailing out of a carbon tax before it has even been introduced!
An opposition motion in the NT Legislative Assembly, which was passed “on the voices”, calls for a half-century exemption, which would be relaxed in the event of an international deal on cutting carbon emissions.
The motion will be presented to federal parliament for the consideration of MPs ahead of debate on Labor’s final carbon tax proposal.
The Country Liberal Party motion was passed on Wednesday night after crossbench independent Gerry Wood spoke in its support.
Chief Minister Paul Henderson’s minority Labor government would have needed the support of a Labor defector, independent Alison Anderson, to win a vote on the floor.
Rather than seek her support, the government let the motion pass “on the voices”.
The federal opposition seized on the move, with climate action spokesman Greg Hunt saying support for the carbon tax had collapsed among state Labor branches.
And Tony Abbott said the carbon price was a “toxic tax” and the NT resolution followed a global movement against carbon taxes.
“Right around the world, the tide is going against what Julia Gillard is proposing. We’ve just seen an election in Canada which gave an anti-carbon price government a majority, and that’s the first time they’ve had a majority government in Canada for quite a long time,” the Opposition Leader said.
But the best bit is Combet’s desperate attempt to make the Territory feel “guilty” for betraying the planet, and his false logic on the issue:
“The Gillard government is very conscious of the impacts of climate change and a carbon price in the Northern Territory.
“The NT is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Rising temperatures could see the loss of significant freshwater wetlands in Kakadu National Park, which would hurt the Territory’s tourism industry, and there are other risks for the Territory from climate change.
Except a carbon tax in Australia won’t change any of these things! If you believe that CO2 is causing dangerous warming, then you should be speaking to the US, China and India, because they’re the only ones that would make any difference.
Read it here.
Australian Climate Madness 
But Gweg, be weasonable.
The NT only want a 50 year reprieve. That means they’ve still got 950 years – as outlined so succinctly by your Climate Commissar Tim (1000 year) Flannery.
This is the model for Tony Abbott to take to the next election. Dump the direct action policy, or water it down with references to international agreements.
Interesting that he has noted and mentioned the Canadian election. Perhaps he will take some cues from Stephen Harper.
As for the NT vote – can they really opt out of a Federal scheme?
Isnt it refreshing to finally find Australian politicians who have the GUTS to tell the Liebor/Greens (anti – Australia party) what they think about this “toxic tax “.
Perhaps they might even consider what the effects of the NBN, Open Borders and selling the farm to foreign communist governments will do to them as well…..
As a Canadian who voted for that majority [anti – carbon tax] party, I was very surprised to see the results considering how close the campaign was shaping up toward the end. My impression is the backlash against climate alarmists is actually stronger in Australia than Canada, so keep up the fight.
the main greenhouse gas is water vapour. most physicists and chemists know this.