The Australian state of New South Wales is a place where the Leftist Climate scammers have taken over. It is said that if it walks like a Duck and quacks like a Duck it is pretty sure it is a Duck. Same with a tax and ‘Google lists 16 synonyms for the word “tax”. Politicians have used most of them over the years. Levies, tolls, excises, imposts have all been popular choices for those seeking to hide a sneaky tax.
No one beats innovation in this field of linguistic camouflage, however, than those seeking to justify a tax to prop up dud renewable energy investments.
The NSW Government has entered this competitive field with its *NSW Electricity Infrastructure Investment Bill 2020*. Section 57 of this proposed law would require electricity distribution companies to make a “contribution” to a Fund that will be used to support investments in renewable energy, batteries and other infrastructure.
A contribution! It sounds like the spare change you chuck onto the plate at mass but in fact there is nothing voluntary about this donation. The law would establish penalties for those who refuse to pay, potentially up to 220,000 for non-compliance.
A mandatory contribution is a tax. If we put a tax on electricity distribution companies, do you think these profit seeking companies will just absorb this extra impost? Of course not. These extra costs will be passed on to the long-suffering electricity consumers of New South Wales.
Electricity prices in Sydney have more than doubled over the past 15 years. There are many pensioners who can not afford to heat their homes in winter. This should be a moral outrage for a country that is blessed with abundant sources of coal, gas and sun.
In fairness, the NSW Government says that there is nothing to worry about. The “contributions” will only be required if prices get “too low”. That sounds a bit like saying our hospitals are very efficient, they only cater for those that don’t live too long. How can electricity prices be too low? I am pretty sure I speak for most when I say I want them to go as low as possible!
Worse, the NSW Government has not released any of the modelling that would describe exactly what level this artificial electricity floor price is set at.
The reason they won’t tell us is that this evidence would blow apart the myth that renewable energy is cheaper than coal. If renewable energy was the cheapest form of power why would they need government funded subsidies from a fund paid for by electricity consumers? If renewable energy was cheaper then they could undercut the coal electricity producers and make money without taxpayer support.
We didn’t need a tax on telephones for people to buy mobiles and we didn’t need a tax on typewriters to invent computers.
What this proposed law is actually about is trying to kill the coal fired power that supports so many NSW jobs. The NSW Government’s own documents admit this, with it planning for the closure of four coal fired power plants over the next 15 years.
They would be replaced by inexpensive and unreliable renewable energy. South Australia already tried this and it ended with its entire state’s lights going out. In the end it had to build a new gas fired power plant to restore reliability.’http://www.mattcanavan.com.au/dud_renewables_will_hurt_hip_pocket?utm_campaign=e_central_bulletin_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mattjcan
