Q: It's said scrapping the tax will save households $550 a year. What do you make of this figure? 

In the days before the destruction of the tax by the Abbott government and the mining billionaire Clive Palmer, some members of the government suddenly sounded less than convinced that consumers will ever see these savings. This was just a confirmation of the fact that this figure was nothing but a bait to attract the most gullible of voters into believing they are getting a good deal. However, a promise is a promise. Many people in this government have made it, including our very own Angus Taylor. I would encourage anyone to ask him in a few months’ time where the money is. I bet we will hear many elaborate excuses why the savings cannot be seen, or why they have been eaten up by even higher prices elsewhere.

Q: Was the carbon tax effective. Why/why not?

URS: Since it came into effect, Australia had seen a surprisingly strong reduction in C02 output already. All the lies broadcast by the climate change-denier brigade – led of course by our very own Prime Minister and supported by Angus Taylor – have been proven utterly wrong. Remember Barnaby Joyce’s “100 Dollar leg of lamb” nonsense ?

If we as citizens do not challenge our politicians quickly, the current Australian government is becoming the biggest destroyer and exporter of jobs in our country’s history. For foreign companies, other than the power and resources sector of course, this decision has sent a signal that this government is putting ideology above responsibility. The question has to be asked: who do they really serve? We, the voters in in Goulburn, lose. The dumping of the tax has had the effect that investments in renewable energy will be put on hold, or even be withdrawn. Believe in climate change or not: action against it is a fantastic business opportunity, particularly for small to medium sized companies, as the wind industry here shows. However, tens of thousands of jobs will now not be created, particularly not in regional areas such as Goulburn. Instead companies involved in sustainable industries simply take their business overseas. You cannot on the one hand lament the economic downturn of country regions and with the other hand stop the creation of jobs for thousands of country people.

Q: What should Australia be doing to address climate change? 

URS: Act hard, act decisive in line with the rest of the world, act decent. And we all win. Forget Tony Abbotts and Angus Taylor’s “Direct action” plan. It has been disqualified as ineffective even by conservative observers. It’s the ultimate “Greenwash” – funded of course by us, the Australian taxpayers. There is no doubt in my mind that Australia will eventually have a price on carbon, as more and more countries in the world do. And we as families and small businesses will not even realize it, because it will have no negative impact on our way of life, as examples in other countries show. Secondly, only a massive investment in renewable industries will do the trick. Australia can power itself from renewable sources, our pollies know that.

The decision to scrap the carbon tax has had enormous negative implications on Australia’s standing in the world. The reaction from other countries has been fierce. Australia is increasingly being seen as an outsider in the global fight against climate change. On the one hand we have some of the highest per capita output of C02, and we (or at least some foreign owned companies) are making billions with the export of our coal, and therefore with the export of climate change. Climate change is global, no person on the planet is or will not be affected by it. Therefore action has to be global – and non-political. In most developed countries it is not a “green” issue, unlike in Australia, where the public debate is being dominated by big business and their lackeys in parliament and the media. The fight for our survival should be everyone’s business. There will be a time when the world community will not have much patience with countries that behave like a recalcitrant bully. There will be a day when countries start boycotting our products and services, as they do it with other countries that decline to be decent global citizens.

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