Andrew Bolt

Andrew’s column summarises the disastrous position Gillard finds herself in after her “carbon tax lie”. But I particularly liked the Seven Steps for Destroying Credibility:

STEP ONE: pretend you haven’t broken your word.

In Gillard’s initial announcement she did not even mention she’d ditched her promise.

Later, as public anger started to build, she pretended she was actually honouring it: “Before the last election I consistently said we needed to price carbon . . . What are we doing? We’re pricing carbon.”

STEP TWO: use lying language.

Gillard still calls her tax a “price on carbon” when it’s no such thing. She says “price” to avoid using the nasty “tax” word, and says “carbon” to make you think it’s imposed on sooty black stuff and not carbon dioxide.

STEP THREE: pretend your tax will make us richer, not poorer.

Gillard first presented her tax as the kind of invention that made computer pioneer Bill Gates a multi-billionaire.

“Bill Gates understood the need to be in on the change. The same is true now. This is the time to be pricing carbon.”

STEP FOUR: smear those who disagree.

Under attack in Parliament over her lie, Gillard resorted to abuse, accusing the Opposition of “race-baiting” and later warning it could even inspire dangerous extremists.

STEP FIVE: deny your tax is a tax.

Gillard at first did admit her “carbon price” was a tax, but by last Sunday Swan was so rattled that he pretended it wasn’t: “But it doesn’t operate like a traditional tax . . . It is not the case that the Government is going to take the carbon price out of your pay packet.”

Which must mean the goods and services tax isn’t a real tax, either, since it’s just a tax on everything you buy, just like this carbon dioxide tax.

STEP SIX: deny your tax is going to hurt like you once said.

At first Gillard conceded her tax would hurt (by making coal-fired electricity and petrol more expensive).

“It has price impacts. It’s meant to. That’s the whole point.”

Even two weeks ago, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet suggested ways to avoid this pain. “The main way to do that is by saving energy, to turn things off at the wall. Maybe think about how often you use the airconditioner. Using a cheaper-to-run hot water system.”

But now? With this tax turning into a debacle, Combet is denouncing what he himself once confessed:

ABC interviewer: Tony Abbott is . . . pointing out the carbon tax in his words would transform Australia’s way of life by making it harder for Australians to drive or turn on the airconditioner.

Combet: . . . What garbage . . . I mean, this guy, he really is nothing but a mobile scare campaign.

STEP SEVEN: don’t ever admit your tax won’t do a thing to stop global warming.

Here’s Swan with Oakes.

Oakes: I’m getting this question from a lot of people . . . ‘Tell me just how much the temperature is going to drop by if this stupid tax comes into effect?’

Swan: Well, Laurie, this is a long-term problem, and the longer we delay . . .

And blah blah. Honest answer? Zero.

Read it all.