Tony Abbott: Carbon Tax Repeal Is Good News for Families, Business, Jobs and Prices

Amidst the chaos in the Senate regarding the carbon tax repeal, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stressed that this move is good news for families, business, jobs, and prices.

Speaking with Representative Steve Irons of Swan, Western Australia during the joint doorstep interview in Perth on Thursday, Abbott heralded that "today is the day when the carbon tax is finally scrapped." Transcript of the interview was posted on the Prime Minster's Web site.

The Prime Minister stated that carbon tax hits the average household by $550. With the impost nine percent carbon tax on power bills, he stated that the country's economy is handbrake by $9 billion a year. Abbott also mentioned that carbon tax has been a very huge contributor to the 25 percent increase of the business sector's power bills over the last two years.

When asked how quickly people can expect to save money once the carbon tax is repealed, Abbott stated that it will start to flow through the economy from day one. Since the bill scrapping the carbon tax is dated July 1, the Prime Minister stated that if the Senate votes that day as it should, the people will have lesser power cost on their next bill.

However, Tony Abbott's predictions did not go as planned. In a live blog from The Guardian it mentioned that the Abbott government had confidently predicted on Wednesday that it had the numbers in the Senate to "gag" the carbon tax debate and go directly to vote on the carbon repeal bills. But as it turned out, thee crossbench senators voted against the gag.

Democrat Labour Party senator John Madigan who voted against the gag stated that even though some government senators had already debated the topic "until their ears bleed," everyone still has the right to voice out their opinion particularly the new crossbenchers who needed time to speak. For him, it does not matter whether the senate will have to sit late or into the weekend but the point is to let everyone's opinion be heard.

Opposition leader in the senate Penny Wong raged that the government is back grounding media to push the vote on carbon tax repeal. At the end of the day, the senate refused to pass the legislation by 37 votes to 35. Instead, the Senate sent the carbon tax repeal legislation to "committee" for further discussion. This gives the Tony Abbott government with another $2 billion blow in the budget.

Watch Opposition leader in the senate Penny Wong's cold rage over the gag of Tony Abbott's government's on the carbon tax repeal from YouTube.