What Julia Gillard really said about pricing carbon

Listening to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott lay into Prime Minister Gillard over the announcement that her government was moving towards setting an interim price on carbon from 1 July 2012 as a precursor to an national emissions trading scheme by 2017 and, then hearing knuckle-dragging radio ‘personality’ Alan Jones’ near hysterical rant on the same subject (full transcript here) one could be forgiven for thinking that Ms. Gillard had never let the Australian electorate know her thinking before the last federal election held on 21 August 2010.

Both of these gentleman forget the enduring convenience of Google when it comes to checking if one’s memory is correct or not.

Yes, she did say that there would not be a carbon tax and, despite Abbott and Jones trying to rewrite history, a stand alone, permanent carbon tax is not what is being planned for now.

However, Gillard did go to some pains to let us all know that carbon pricing was going to occur if Labor was re-elected.

In June 2010 The Australian reported:

Julia Gillard will pursue a carbon price if she wins the next election…

In July 2010 The Herald Sun also reported the Prime Minister’s position:

"We will have that price on carbon when we have a deep community consensus."
Today, Ms Gillard emphatically ruled out a price on carbon before 2012 as she prepares to release a new policy on climate change.
That means no ETS, no carbon tax and no interim carbon levy until then.

The Business Spectator in July 2010:

The federal government has agreed new policies on climate change, including a commitment to set an interim price on carbon, the Australian Financial Review reports.

On the day before we all went to the polls Gillard was reported at news.com.au:

Julia Gillard says she is prepared to legislate a carbon price in the next term as part of a bold series of reforms

In The Australian on the same day:

In an election-eve interview with The Australian, the Prime Minister revealed she would view victory tomorrow as a mandate for a carbon price, provided the community was ready for this step.

Even Tony Abbott was aware of Gillard’s commitment to pricing carbon. His own website contained this post almost two months before the last federal election:

If she is serious about putting a price on carbon she shouldn’t wait until after the election, she should sit down with Bob Brown now, come up with something, tell us now what she’s going to do rather than just fudge this until after the election. But it’s typical of the new Prime Minister that she wants to get credit for wanting to do something without getting the blame for actually doing something and this is a Prime Minister who will tell people what she thinks they want to hear but she won’t then put the policies in place to deliver on that.

We're white hot and angry? Quick, look in the mirror and check!

The very partisan and super aggressive Alan Jones over at 2GB this morning told the Prime Minister that there is white hot anger out there over the announcement of a framework to introduce a national carbon price.

This came as a great surprise in our house because yesterday we greeted that same announcement with sighs of relief that Australia was once more moving forward on climate change.

Anony-mice

Yamba

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration.

Christchurch Earthquake Appeal: you've seen the news video - now help the cast

You’ve watched the 24 hour news coverage, spoken with friends and relatives – now donate a dollar or two to the New Zealand Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.

Salvation Army Australian donations online here.

Australian Red Cross online donations here.

Westpac Bank is accepting donations at local branches and customers can also donate via online banking.

ANZ Bank is accepting donations at local branches – Account name: Red Cross New Zealand Earthquake Appeal, BSB: 013 265, Account: 4768 62394

Commonwealth Bank accepting donations at local branches and via NetBank - Account name: Commonwealth Bank New Zealand Earthquake Appeal, BSB: 06 2000, Account number: 1405 2924

McDonald's Australia - a fast food nightmare

No wonder that McDonald’s new fast food outlet in Yamba doesn’t appear to be doing a roaring business during peak tourist season on the Clarence Coast:

MCDONALD'S new Favourites Combo meal contains enough calories for a whole day, horrifying nutritionists.

It contains 1623 calories and 68.5g of fat.

It's McDonald's new Favourites Combo - being promoted as a lunch meal for one, which contains almost the entire daily recommended calorie and fat intake.

Tania Ferraretto, a dietician for 17 years, said she would never recommend anyone eat the calorific meal.

She said a person's required calorie intake was variable depending on age, gender and activity level but that the average adult needed about 2000 calories per day.

"This McDonald's meal is a huge proportion of that," Ms Ferraretto said. The meal is also dangerously high in saturated fat - containing a whopping 24.4g.

"That's more saturated fat in one meal than you need in one day," Ms Ferraretto said.

"Saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol.

"I think it's completely irresponsible and ridiculous to promote a meal like this, especially in the current climate with obesity being such a problem."

The promotion hit South Australian stores on January 25 and will only be available until March 2.

In the middle of the promotional period, the Cancer Council released results from a national survey which revealed one in four high school students were overweight or obese and 51 per cent had tried a new food or drink in the past month that they had seen advertised.

McDonald's Hindley St store manager Yihong Hu said the Favourites Combo promotion was proving to be popular…….

[www.news.com.au, 20 February 2011]

Long memories may plague Williamson in March 2011

On Facebook this month at No to McDonalds in YAMBA:

Dave Fleming Dont forget our spineless Mayor Ritchie Williamson's involvement in the Yamba Maccas when you vote in the state election next month.

Limits on scratchie lottery tickets

Hey, Senator Nick Xenophon, did you watch Adam Hill's Gordon Street Tonight on ABC TV?

A member of the audience admitted to spending $250 on scratchie lottery tickets in one session at one outlet.

What's stopping that person going to other suburbs and doing repeat efforts?

There's not much difference between doing your dough on the pokies and blowing it on things like scratchies.