Tax triumphalism not a good look

Chris Kenny, The Australian
"THE disconnect between the political/media fishbowl and mainstream Australia is often stark. We have seen a clear demonstration of that with the Prime Minister and her team applauding, kissing and congratulating each other on the passage of their carbon (dioxide) tax bills through the House of Representatives. Only yesterday Newspoll showed a massive primary vote split of 49 to 29 between the dominant, anti-carbon (dioxide) tax Coalition and the struggling, pro-carbon (dioxide) tax Labor government.

Climate change ranked as the lowest priority of the main issues for voters, and even then, more people thought the Coalition would handle the issue best. Polls have shown that well over half the population opposes the carbon (dioxide) tax and little more than a third support it. Simply, the tax is unpopular.

Yet in the rarefied atmosphere of Canberra, Labor MPs publicly pat themselves on the back for passing it. The political myopia of this self-congratulation is stunning. It only makes a bad situation worse. Labor promised not to introduce a carbon (dioxide) tax and there is already a good deal of anger from voters about the broken promise. It is being expressed through talkback radio, letters to newspapers, and polling results."