The government has yet to determine the best way to compensate households for the impact of a carbon tax, the Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet said, as Labor faced pressure from within to release more details of how it will help families deal with increases in the cost of living.
The government has been under pressure since Treasury modelling, released on Friday under a freedom-of-information request, showed a $30 carbon price could raise the cost of gas, food, power and petrol by up to $16.60 a week, or $863 a year, for the average household.
It is figuring out a package of compensation and is understood to support similar levels to those proposed under its now dumped emissions trading scheme.
In the emissions trading package, most low and middle income earners were given more in compensation than the cost of living rises associated with a carbon price. Households in the upper-middle income range were compensated to lesser degrees.
Mr Combet said yesterday the government was ”very concerned that low and middle income households can meet costs of living”.
”We are considering different options,” he told the Herald.
The NSW Labor leader, John Robertson, would not throw his support behind the carbon tax yesterday.
”The critical thing here is the full package, I want to see the detail … before I arrive at a decision,” he said.
The federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, jumped on that response, saying the NSW Labor leader was sending a message.
”It doesn’t matter where you look,” he said. ”This carbon tax is going to impact on life and … that’s why John Robertson is sending a big message to Prime Minister Gillard - be very, very careful about this carbon tax.”
Cassandra Goldie, chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, said yesterday her organisation supported the government using the broad design of the dumped scheme’s household compensation package.
ACOSS is preparing a position paper on household compensation for the impact of the carbon tax which Dr Goldie will present on Friday when Mr Combet and the Environment Minister, Tony Burke, meet union, welfare and environment groups.
