FAR fewer voters believe the carbon tax will hurt them now they have experienced it but the policy is still unpopular and so is the government that introduced it.
The latest Herald/Nielsen poll, taken about a month after the introduction of a carbon price, shows the proportion of voters who thought they would be worse off has slumped dramatically while those who feel it will make no difference has soared.
In the poll taken a month ago, just before the carbon price began, 51 per cent felt they would be worse off, 37 per cent thought it would make no difference, and only 5 per cent felt they would be better off.
The latest poll of 1400 people, taken from Thursday to Saturday nights, finds 38 per cent feel they are worse off, a drop of 13 percentage points, while 52 per cent feel it has made no difference, a rise of 15 points. Again, only 5 per cent believe they are better off.
The government has argued that attitudes would change once people had experienced the carbon price but this has not translated into a marked increase in support for either the policy or the government.
They haven’t experienced anything yet viz a viz the carbon tax. Poor sods’
(1) Take camel’s nose.
(2) Insert into tent.
(3) Proclaim: “See? That’s not so bad!”
(4) Run like hell before the tent’s inhabitants get the rest of the smelly beast in their laps.