I have received the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest carbon monitoring report.
There is no doubt our commitment to remove the carbon tax cost from small business and household bills saved Australians money across all states and territories.
The report focuses on the response of Australian businesses in the December 2014 quarter to the carbon tax repeal and the extent to which cost savings are flowing through the supply chain to consumers.
It clearly shows that scrapping the carbon tax has contributed to price decreases or price increases that are less than what they otherwise would have been.
These ACCC findings are in line with our government expectations and build on our commitment to help build a stronger economy, and help families to make ends meet by bringing down the cost of living for Australian families.
Scrapping of the carbon tax means that small businesses will no longer need to raise prices to cover the extra cost or absorb the cost of the carbon tax, and this in turn creates a better environment for small business to increase their productivity and competitiveness.
I share the ACCC's general satisfaction with how Australian businesses have passed on carbon tax cost savings and complied with the carbon tax price reduction obligation legislation so far. The ACCC continues to seek and analyse information to ensure that prices offered for regulated goods and services pass on all of the carbon tax cost savings.
However both the ACCC and I remain unsatisfied that all entities have passed through all cost savings from the carbon tax repeal, particularly in the landfill and construction industries.
The Commission will continue its assessment of the representations made by domestic airlines about the effect of the carbon tax, and the effect of the carbon tax repeal, on their airfares.
The government has given the ACCC powers and the resources to take action where businesses are misleading their customers about the impact of the carbon tax repeal.
A copy of the report is available at http://bit.ly/carbondec on the ACCC website
The next report regarding the ACCC’s operations in relation to carbon tax price reduction obligation will be provided to me by 28 April 2015.
Background
Electricity – average percentage price changes for the residential standing offers from July-August 2014 to October 2014 attributable to the removal of the carbon tax1
| State | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | VIC | WA | TAS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average percentage price change | -10.6% | -6.9% | -5.1% | -8.3% | -4.5% | -7.7% | -8.1% | n/a2 |
Natural gas – average percentage price changes for the residential standing offers from July-August 2014 to October 2014 attributable to the removal of the carbon tax3
| State | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | VIC | WA | TAS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average percentage price change | -5.7% | -5.8% | -6.5% | -4.9% | -5.2% | -6.2% | -4.1% | -4.6% |
1 The figures in this table are based on the ACCC’s annual bill calculations using a consumption of 6500kWh per annum and pricing data provided by electricity retailers. The actual impact on individual consumers will vary, depending on the consumer’s location, choice of retailer, actual consumption and tariff structure.
2 Tasmanian electricity retailer Aurora removed carbon from its pricing as at 1 July 2014.
3 Price changes for this table are based on average annual bill calculation using pricing data provided by natural gas retailers and an annual usage of 45 GJ. The actual impact on individual customers will vary, depending on the customer’s tariff structure, location and consumption.