Treasurer Mike Nahan has welcomed the repeal of the Carbon Tax in the Federal Parliament today as a win for all West Australians.
The repeal of the Carbon Tax, to be backdated to July 1, will see electricity bills fall by about 8 per cent, or $126 a year, for an average West Australian family living within the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), depending on their total consumption.
The price of electricity for residential households in regional WA outside the SWIS is expected to fall by approximately 8 per cent or $267.34, depending on consumption. The price of household gas is expected to fall by approximately 4 per cent.
"The Carbon Tax was ill-conceived, achieved very little and proved to be a massive burden for West Australian families and businesses," Dr Nahan said.
"I am delighted that the Federal Government has succeeded in scrapping this ineffective tax.
"Directly, the Carbon Tax was estimated to cost WA government agencies around $60million in 2014-15 due to higher prices for goods and services.
"WA businesses will also benefit from the abolition of the tax, including those in the mining and oil and gas industries that have driven much of the recent growth in the State's employment and household incomes."
The Treasurer said he would immediately begin the process of making adjustments to tariffs through the law and gazettal process to reflect the repeal of the Carbon Tax.
"I have also written to both Synergy and Horizon Power instructing them to pass on the full benefits of the removal of the Carbon Tax to all electricity consumers as soon as practicable," he said.
Synergy issues approximately 25,000 invoices each day, so expects it will take approximately six-eight weeks for the benefit of the Carbon Tax repeal to flow through to customers.
Due to the timing of the repeal legislation being passed in the Senate, some Synergy customers could receive a bill, including a carbon charge after the Carbon Tax repeal date. In this case a credit will be applied to a future bill.
Government agencies will continue to work with the appropriate regulators to ensure that carbon related savings are accurately identified and passed through to consumers.
Treasury will continue to work with Synergy, the Water Corporation and the Public Transport Authority and other relevant government policy agencies to identify the impact of the carbon price repeal.
Fact File
The Federal Treasury has estimated that the Carbon Tax would have cost an average household around $550 in 2014-15
The Federal Treasury has estimated that the removal of the Carbon Tax will reduce the national headline CPI by 0.75 of a percentage point
Modelling by Federal Treasury demonstrated that the tax increased prices across almost all areas of household expenditure, including electricity, gas, food, pharmaceuticals, clothing, housing, motoring, travel, health and education
Treasurer's office - 6552 5700
