By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
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ISAACS Labor MP Mark Dreyfus has been accused of misleading south-east manufacturers on the impact of the carbon tax.
South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance executive officer Paul Dowling said manufacturers would “bear the brunt” of the carbon tax, with its analysis finding that the tax would cause a 22-28 per cent higher industrial electricity price in the region.
He said it was counter to “an undertaking” from Mr Dreyfus at the SEMMA annual meeting last year that the carbon tax would raise industrial electricity costs by 10 per cent.
Mr Dowling described the discrepancy as a “bureaucratic bungle”. He said SEMMA had negotiated an electricity price for industries in the region about a third of the household price, yet it would be charged the same kilowatt to horsepower increase for the carbon tax as residences.
As a result, the carbon tax increase would be three times greater as a percentage than households. “Under our group deal, the price of our electricity had been reduced by 17 per cent, but overall it’s up by 12 per cent with the carbon tax. The real impact is 22-28 per cent on our bills.”
Mr Dowling said it was up to the government to fix the situation, because electricity retailers were applying the tax “as per the legislation”.
Mr Dreyfus, who is the parliamentary secretary for climate change and energy efficiency, stood by Treasury predictions of a rise of about 10 per cent.
He said manufacturers wouldn’t need further assistance aside from grants for energy-efficient industries and clean technology development.
“The opposition will be exposed for running a deceitful scare campaign for wholly political reasons. They’ve been unnecessarily alarming businesses and scaring pensioners.”
Federal Opposition industry spokeswoman Sophie Mirabella said “more and more disastrous effects of the carbon tax are coming to light.
“Mr Dreyfus is too busy selling Labor’s toxic carbon tax to pay heed to the concerns of local manufacturers,” she said.
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