Statements made by Treasurer Wayne Swan show that he has no understanding regarding the effects the Carbon Tax will have on manufacturers Queensland Nationals Senator Ron Boswell said today.

“Treasurer Wayne Swan said today - it is not the Carbon Tax, but the rising dollar that will hit manufacturers hardest. The rising dollar is a big problem, but the impact of the Carbon Tax on top of that will be devastating,” Senator Boswell said.

“Wayne Swan has acknowledged manufacturers are doing it tough but is still stubbornly insisting that Carbon Tax won’t add to industry woes, he said.

“The Steel industry is important for Australia. Between Blue Scope Steel and One Steel 20,000 workers are employed.

“Wayne Swan has chosen to quote a carbon price for the steel industry of $2.60 a tonne. However the steel industry has figures that confirm it will be $8 dollars a tonne and will increase.

“The overall concern of the manufacturing industry is the uncertainty of what price carbon will be when it transitions from a fixed price to a trading scheme. The price is expected to rise significantly.

“Adding $8 per ton carbon tax on $7.5 million tons of steel production will add another $60 mill loss to the bottom line of both these steel manufacturers.

“Even when we calculate Mr Swan’s figures, which are wrong, a tax of $2.60 still translates into a $21 million dollar loss that gets added on to an existing loss of $55 million to One Steel and $71 million loss to Blue Scope.

“Both One Steel and Blue Scope were under the pump last year and showed big losses.

“Blue Steel Chief Executive Paul O'Malley told the ABC's Inside Business his company would face a $300 Million annual bill from the Carbon Tax. This came on top of a first-half net loss of $55 Million from soaring raw materials prices. O'Malley has warned that the tax could spell the end of manufacturing in Australia.

“The latest Minerals Council submission on the Carbon Tax shows that under China’s Copenhagen ‘offer’ its CO2 emissions will rise by 496 per cent by 2020, while India’s offer will allow its emissions to grow by 350 per cent by 2020.

“When other countries are obviously not taking part in a Carbon Tax this becomes an exercise in futility.

“Swan knows that the rising dollar is bringing problems to manufacturing in Australia.  But he must also know that adding on a Carbon Tax will exacerbate the situation.  He’s either in denial or doesn’t understand the problem.”

ENDS