As the D day for the carbon tax fast approaches with less than one week to its implementation, the debate between pro- and anti-carbon tax groups as well as strategies to back or oppose the measure are becoming more intense.
On Thursday, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said using a scare tactic, such as what the Opposition does, is a legitimate tool in a democracy. He said as a political tool, getting results from wielding the scare tactic depends on how the party argues its way out of the tactic.
He admitted that Labor used a scare campaign against the general sales tax (GST) of the Howard government but the tactic bombed because the party could not sustain it.
Labor is in the thick of battling the Oppositions scare tactics against the carbon tax, scheduled to be collected on July 1. In response to Mr Combet’s admission that it is not wrong to use a scare tactic, Coalition environment spokesman Greg Hunt pointed out the difference between Labor’s scare campaign against the GST and the Opposition’s campaign against the $23 per tonne carbon price.
“The Howard government was honest with the community and explained in detail the policy before an election and took it to the people for a vote,” The Age quoted Mr Hunt.
