Australian Carbon Tax Responsible for Damaging 80% of Australian Small Businesses

Written by Andrew Puhanic
Published on Thursday, December 20th, 2012
Globalist Report

Since its introduction on 1 July 2012, the Australian carbon tax has burdened hard-working Australians with unnecessary increases in their cost of living.

It has now been revealed that more than 80% of Australian small business are now negatively affected because of the carbon tax.

In a survey of more than 215 Australian small businesses conducted by the Australian Retailers Association, it was revealed that 80 percent of retailers believe that their business has been negatively impacted since the introduction of the carbon and that 60 percent report consumers have spent less since carbon pricing was introduced.

Participants of the survey were asked a variety of questions that gauged their sentiments and experiences of doing business in Australia since the carbon tax was introduced.

It was revealed that small businesses in Australia believe that the carbon tax has impacted them in the following ways:

• It has added a total cost of approx $4000 per year in operating expenses.
• Utility bills have increased, especially electricity (power costs up 40% since July).
• Higher delivery costs for stock and those that used to deliver for free now charge a freight fee.
• Increased cost of products and Increased expenses.
• Supplier and input costs have risen exponentially.

Considering that Australian small businesses employ more that 47% of Australians, the director of the Australian Retailers Association, Russell Zimmerman, expressed his concerns at the impact the Australian carbon tax is having on Australian small business. He was quoted as saying that:

The introduction of carbon pricing was a massive legislative change for small business and one which has had a significant impact. In a climate of already suppressed retail spending, retailers are taking the hit of the carbon tax as consumers bypass the stores to pay household bills

The economic pain that the Australian carbon tax is causing small businesses has become evident.

• Dairy farmers are now forced to absorb the costs associated with the carbon tax, many are now forced to shut-down their farms.
• Vegetable Growers are now facing hardship because of the carbon tax. A Queensland vegetable grower, John Brent, says his power bill for one-quarter has already risen by over 10 per cent.
• A small regional carrier known as REX says its profits are being dragged down by the Federal Government’s price on carbon.

The Australian Retailers Association is now calling on the Australian government to begin compensating small businesses for their losses and to start providing them with more information about how to deal with the costs associated with the carbon tax.

The good news is that the unpopularity of the Australian carbon tax is greater than it has ever been. A poll conducted by the Minerals Council of Australia has revealed that 58 percent of Australians now disapprove of the carbon tax, up from 54 per cent in February 2012.

The unpopularity of carbon taxes and the negative impact they have on the economies they infest should be enough to discourage other governments from falling for the same Globalist lies.

Unfortunately, I doubt Australia will be the last country to introduce a carbon tax.