"Was it the real or fake Julia who promised no carbon tax?"
Well, as I replied
"Neither. It was 'I have a majority government but now I have to deal with the independents and Greens if I want to get anything done'".
Minority government's have to change position (slightly, in this case) and compromise. Political reality.
Meanwhile, whilst Gillard DID rule out a carbon tax during the election, what has been announced isn't, from a technical standpoint, a tax in the vein the GST was (and unlike many, I'm not going to attack Howard for "going back" on his promise as Opposition Leader to "never ever" impose a GST. He took it to an election and won. Besides, Opposition Leaders say a lot of things - such as Tony Abbott's levy on business to pay for parental leave). Drag0nista has a great piece on political dishonesty on ABC's Unleashed.
What we have with the proposed carbon price is a fixed price that is a de facto tax. But after that period, it goes to a market cap and trade scheme. Now, admittedly, the current market schemes we see in the US and EU are flawed....but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be attempted (even if you take my view that there's no point trying, we can't reverse climate change anyway), especially if you otherwise favour the free market.
Now, Alan Jones.
I know shock jocks are bad, generally. But, let me say this now: were I ever to run for office (and get there), you would have to literally put a gun to my head to get me on his show (and I'm a small l liberal). I understand Julia's motive for going on (a pre-emptive strike against the shrill cries of the right about her "lying"), but I personally would rather cop criticism about "avoiding" him, rather than give him the ego boost he obviously so gravely needs (If you really want, you can listen to the "interview" here)
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