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Carbon tax leak an attempt to “kill Bill”

Jul 15, 2015
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten

The Federal Government says Labor hasn’t learnt its lesson over the carbon tax, labelling the leak of an internal ALP document as an attempt to “kill Bill”.

News Corp reported on Wednesday the Opposition was considering revising a carbon tax regime, involving separate impacts for industry and households.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Labor can’t be trusted not to introduce a “triple-whammy tax”.

The Labor discussion paper includes proposals for vehicle emission standards, which could hike the cost of new cars, laws governing power plants, and energy efficiency targets for the family home.

The leaked document concedes the schemes could carry significant political risk and hike the cost of living for consumers.

But Labor denies it’s reviving the carbon tax, saying it’s only standing by a long-held promises to set up an emissions trading scheme.

Opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler said the leak was unfortunate and Labor’s policies were still to be fully thrashed out.

“We’ve been very clear that we will not introduce a carbon tax,” he told reporters in Adelaide.

“We have been clear, though, that we will take to the 2016 election an emissions trading scheme.”

Abbott said whatever Labor called it, it was still a tax.

“It shows Bill Shorten is in every respect a carbon copy of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

Treasurer Joe Hockey said Labor would be crazy to revive a tax which claimed two of their past leaders.

“It would be madness for Bill Shorten to follow that path, but obviously someone wants to kill Bill at the moment,” Hockey told ABC TV.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the opposition has been caught red-handed.

The leak demonstrated a “split of catastrophic proportions” within the party, he said.

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