Say “yes” … to what?

This advertisement, which is NOT funded by the Gillard government but by a “coalition of unions & green groups”, begins on TV tonight. It’s about selling the proposed carbon tax by inducing Aussies to say “yes” to cleaner air, alternative energy and, oh, saving the planet from global warming of course. But who is it aimed at, you and me, the ordinary voter?

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Um, no, we don’t get a say on it, not before the next election more than two years away and, by then, it’ll be too late to reverse it. Not even the Liberals, if they win in 2013, would drop the carbon tax because, let’s face it, what government would give up a tax on air? It’s a no-brainer that some form of carbon tax will be introduced at some point in time and, when it is, there’ll be no going back.

As for the ad itself, well, the words naive and too simplistic come to mind, as do stupid and celebrity-driven:

The ad features two of Australia’s best known actors, Cate Blanchett and Michael Caton, and urges Australians to “Say Yes” to a tax on carbon.

“What if we say yes, to making big companies pay, when they pollute our skies? We’d be saying yes to less carbon pollution,” Caton says in the ad.

“And finally, doing something about climate change,” Blanchett adds.

Comment:

It’s no coincidence that the campaign is being launched at the same time that the multi-party talks on a carbon tax are taking place in Canberra. It seems that the ad is actually aimed at shoring up the votes of the 3 independents Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott & Andrew Wilkie. No point aiming it at ‘Mad’ Bob Katter or the Greens Adam Bandt, as their minds are already made up. It’s a strange way to communicate with members of parliament – via a TV ad!

As for the notion of a carbon tax, I don’t believe that the funds raised by it will actually be used to develop cleaner alternatives. Well, not even the government can claim that because they are pushing it as ‘revenue neutral’, meaning that the taxes raised will be redistributed in the form of so-called compensation to those earning less than $150,000 per year. And pensioners.

I’m as sceptical as the next person that the few bucks thrown our way will offset the massive increases in electricity bills that are sure to follow. For instance, our own bills have already gone up by about 30% over the past year or two and that’s before any tax has been introduced. I reckon we’re in for some even more horrific cost increases over the next few years.

It looks like – no, it’s for sure - we’re all going to have to bite the bullet and fork out some big dollars for serious solar energy collectors so that we’re no longer so reliant on the grid. For those of us who can (sort of) afford it, it’s not so bad and a very positive thing to do anyway. In our case, because we have the house and 7 holiday units, we’d be looking conservatively at an outlay of at least $40,000. But, as the cost of that would take about 8 or more years to recoup, I’m not real sure it’s worth the expense (I’m not going to be here forever). 

It really pisses me off that no Australian government, of any persuasion, has done anything of real note or value to develop serious alternative energy sources that we can all tap into. It’s not like we don’t give them enough money already. 

Make no mistake, we’re all on our own with this. Get used to it.

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