I’ve asked you at least twice now to explain how the Carbon Tax will reduce CO₂ emissions when the end users according to you and the Gillard government will be compensated almost 100% for its cost. The whole idea of this tax is to reduce CO₂emissions by making it more expensive for everyone
If companies are charged an extra $1 for the carbon emitted on every widget they produce, and consumers are given tax breaks or assistance to cover their extra costs in purchasing their weekly widgets, the money goes round in a circle and nothing is gained. If the company then changes their processes to a low-carbon emission method/power source, and now only pays 50c per widget they can either make more profit, or cut costs and gaining a real competitive advantage against other companies using the older more polluting technologies or processes. This in turn will give the company a big advantage, and if they choose to pass the lower cost on to the consumer a benefit for the consumer. This gives us market forces acting to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide emitted.