11-July-2011
Portfolio Media Releases
Finance Minister Penny Wong demonstrated today that she does not understand how Labor’s carbon tax works, so how are Australians expected to understand it?
During an interview on ABC in Adelaide Senator Wong was asked if the federal government was included in the scheme.
Wong: “Uh, well, uh I am not sure that we are one of the top 500 polluters.”
The Minister was then told that according to the Institute of Public Affairs the federal government was ranked somewhere between 10th and 30th on the list of the nation’s largest emitters.
Wong: “Uh, well, uh if we are within the scheme, we are within the scheme. But I don’t think - I don’t believe, that we are.”
Shadow Minister for Finance Andrew Robb said it was unbelievable that Senator Wong as Finance Minister and former Climate Change Minister did not know.
“If Penny Wong, who was the architect of the original scheme doesn’t understand it, how can anyone else be expected to understand it?” Mr Robb asked.
“All year the government has been thundering about the 1,000 big polluters, now that list is supposedly down to 500, yet the Finance Minister doesn’t seem to know who is on it.
“As Paul Keating once said: ‘If you don’t understand it, don’t vote for it. If you do understand it, you’d never vote for it’.
“The government must publicly release its 500 company hit list to end the uncertainty about which companies and other entities will be directly taxed,” Mr Robb said.