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195439
Sun, 07/17/2011 - 14:23
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https://oananews.org//node/195439
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Millions spent on tax ads appropriate: PM
SYDNEY (AAP) - Prime Minister Julia Gillard has defended spending $12 million of taxpayer dollars on television advertising of her carbon tax, saying it's about providing facts.
The TV ads, starting on Sunday night, aim to improve public support for the government's contentious plan to price carbon at $23 a tonne starting in July next year.
The government plans to fork out $12 million on the ads and another $13 million to print leaflets, run websites and fund other publicly available material.
Ms Gillard said it's the right thing to do, given the amount of misinformation being drummed up by stakeholder groups, big industry and the coalition.
"There has been a lot of fear around, a lot of misconceptions so we want to get people the accurate information they need," she told the Nine Network on Sunday.
"It is appropriate to get people that kind of information."
She pointed out the previous Howard government spent almost 10 times as much to sell its Work Choices legislation, and hundreds of millions on the GST.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott immediately derided the information campaign, noting Ms Gillard herself called taxpayer-funded advertising campaigns an abuse.
"If the Labor Party wants to advertise, the Labor Party should find the money and the Labor Party should spend the money," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
"Taxpayers should not be ripped off to fund political propaganda."
He said the ads left out crucial information, such as how the carbon tax will cost families $515 a year based on the government's own figures.
Amid reports industry is countering with a $10 million anti-carbon tax campaign, Ms Gillard insisted her ad blitz was about providing the facts, and that the facts will turn around public sentiment.
"There's a lot of fear and anxiety around and I will keep combating that fear and anxiety with simple facts," she said.
"And the facts are on our side."
In a sign the government's campaign continues to struggle, Ms Gillard was confronted by an irate punter when she visited a community centre in Adelaide.
She was there to spruik pension increases under a carbon tax, which she said would leave the average pensioner household about $210 a year better off.
But local man Luke Belperio went up to the prime minister to ask about rising electricity prices, telling her he wouldn't get any compensation given he lives off savings.
Ms Gillard, who has denied claims she spent the last parliamentary week shoring up support for herself as Labor leader, has also weathered criticism from former prime minister John Howard.
Her conservative predecessor argued there has been a global shift away from carbon emissions trading that Australia is not heeding.
Ms Gillard told reporters in Adelaide: "John Howard, when he was prime minister, was an advocate of moving first.
"We're not talking now about leading the world, we're talking now about staying up with the rest of the world."
The TV ads, starting on Sunday night, aim to improve public support for the government's contentious plan to price carbon at $23 a tonne starting in July next year.
The government plans to fork out $12 million on the ads and another $13 million to print leaflets, run websites and fund other publicly available material.
Ms Gillard said it's the right thing to do, given the amount of misinformation being drummed up by stakeholder groups, big industry and the coalition.
"There has been a lot of fear around, a lot of misconceptions so we want to get people the accurate information they need," she told the Nine Network on Sunday.
"It is appropriate to get people that kind of information."
She pointed out the previous Howard government spent almost 10 times as much to sell its Work Choices legislation, and hundreds of millions on the GST.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott immediately derided the information campaign, noting Ms Gillard herself called taxpayer-funded advertising campaigns an abuse.
"If the Labor Party wants to advertise, the Labor Party should find the money and the Labor Party should spend the money," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
"Taxpayers should not be ripped off to fund political propaganda."
He said the ads left out crucial information, such as how the carbon tax will cost families $515 a year based on the government's own figures.
Amid reports industry is countering with a $10 million anti-carbon tax campaign, Ms Gillard insisted her ad blitz was about providing the facts, and that the facts will turn around public sentiment.
"There's a lot of fear and anxiety around and I will keep combating that fear and anxiety with simple facts," she said.
"And the facts are on our side."
In a sign the government's campaign continues to struggle, Ms Gillard was confronted by an irate punter when she visited a community centre in Adelaide.
She was there to spruik pension increases under a carbon tax, which she said would leave the average pensioner household about $210 a year better off.
But local man Luke Belperio went up to the prime minister to ask about rising electricity prices, telling her he wouldn't get any compensation given he lives off savings.
Ms Gillard, who has denied claims she spent the last parliamentary week shoring up support for herself as Labor leader, has also weathered criticism from former prime minister John Howard.
Her conservative predecessor argued there has been a global shift away from carbon emissions trading that Australia is not heeding.
Ms Gillard told reporters in Adelaide: "John Howard, when he was prime minister, was an advocate of moving first.
"We're not talking now about leading the world, we're talking now about staying up with the rest of the world."
