Media Release – Senator Barnaby Joyce, 1 March 2012:
Carbon tax to hit local government rates too
The carbon tax is a broad-based consumption tax delivered to every household and business via their power points. If you own a toaster, you pay the tax. If you put out a garbage bin on a Tuesday night, you are going to pay the tax. If you have a street light out the front of your house, you are going to pay the tax.
Apparently, just the imminent introduction of the tax has had an impact, since they have announced it we have had one of our coldest summers on record and it hasn’t stopped raining. I imagine that once it has been introduced we will go into a diluvium freeze.
Local governments will be hit by the tax too through higher electricity prices and higher landfill costs, said Senator Barnaby Joyce, Shadow Minister for Local Government, today.
The Herald Sun reports today that ratepayers in Victoria will be hit with an increase in their rates of up to 3 per cent because of the carbon tax. Providing street lighting and removing rubbish and waste are core local government responsibilities and they will all be more expensive because of this tax.
Frankston Council is set to increase rates by 3.5 per cent due to the carbon tax and a small landfill levy, and the City of Whittlesea expects the tax to raise rates by 1.5 per cent.
The Brisbane City Council has already warned that rates will have to go up by 2%, the Dubbo City Council has estimated that its power bill alone will increase by $500,000, while the Tamworth Regional Council estimates an impact on their electricity bill of $300,000.
Just like any business, local governments will have to pass these costs on in the form of higher rates. I am sure everyone will be thankful for the carbon tax next time they get their rates notice.
Ratepayers across the country will be rightly demanding, why must we pay a tax that we didn’t vote for and that which won’t change the temperature outside?
More information – Matthew Canavan 0458 709433
Barnaby Is Right 
Can we please stop using the term Local Government – it does not lawfully exist! Councils are an aberation that is not even mentioned in our Constitution. Worse in 1988 we had a referendum that should have outlawed Councils. Its time that State and fed Govs actually followed the rules! State Legislation cannot overule the fed Constitution – correction shouldn’t!
Fed up
I dissagree with you, having 3 levels of government is good and a very effective system. The fact some things are not working properly is not the system it is the people within the system. I don’t know the legalities of having councils but if it is not kosher then should put it into the constitution. The alternate of not having councils is to have the state government choose local administrators and that would be far worse local roads will crumble and rubbish won’t be collected for sure.
But with some of the stunts I’ve seen councils trying i don’t think granting them more authority via the Constitution is a good idea. I’d go for for inserting laws into the Constitution that made them more accountable to the people that vote them in.
For example my council has recently decided to cut back on it’s rubbish collection services to “encourage recycling” to twice a week
We live out of town and do recycle most of what we have but there’s some stuff that just just be recycled. When we wrote to them pointing out this fact the Enviromental Officer from the Council suggested that we freeze it and keep it over 2 weeks. The fact that this would leave no room in the freezer for actual food appears to have escaped his notice,as does the fact that we pay rates for this service. Why should we pay full rates for something we don’t get?
16 References to the Sovereign
In any Act references to the Sovereign reigning at the time of
the passing of such Act, or to the Crown, shall be construed as
references to the Sovereign for the time being. –
Acts Interpretation Act.
I wonder sometimes if it is the Queen or the Rothschild owned City of London also known as The Crown who make the rules given that the Commonwealth of Australia is a registered corporation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Statute law is company law – the law of the sea. Politicians make policy, not law. The Constitution seems irrelevant.