THE HON GREG COMBET AM MP
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Minister for Industry and Innovation
THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Cabinet Secretary
Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
ANAO CONFIRMS CLEAN ENERGY ADVERTISEMENTS ACCURATE
Tony Abbott has been caught out once again misleading the public.
The Australian National Audit Office today confirmed that 9 out of every 10 households will receive financial assistance as part of the Gillard Government’s clean energy future package, despite the Opposition Leader’s claims to the contrary.
After spreading myths for months, Mr Abbott’s claims have proven unfounded with the ANAO finding all of the factual statements in the Government’s Clean Energy Future advertising campaign last year were supported by the evidence.
This confirms the dishonesty of the discredited Abbott scare campaign on carbon pricing.
The ANAO performance audit report, Administration of Government Advertising Arrangements: March 2010 to August 2011, tabled in Parliament today, examines advertising and information campaigns including the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency’s Clean Energy Future campaign.
It confirms that the carbon price will apply to around 500 big polluters, more than half of the revenue will be used to assist households and 9 in 10 households will receive assistance.
Last year Mr Abbott wrote to the Auditor-General claiming that the Clean Energy Future advertisements were factually inaccurate.
Today’s audit report shows this complaint had no substance.
The ANAO report disproves Mr Abbott’s claim that the statement in the advertisements that 9 in 10 households would receive assistance was misleading. The ANAO report says: “Additional Treasury evidence supported the statement that more than 9 in 10 households (92 per cent) were estimated to receive some combination of assistance, lending support to the statement in the household mail-out.” (page 209).
The ANAO report disproves Mr Abbott’s claim that the advertising campaign was highly political and rhetorical. The ANAO says: “The campaign did not contain any overt promotion of party political interests, political slogans or bias ...” (page 217).
And the ANAO report disproves Mr Abbott’s claim that the campaign’s references to the carbon price applying to around 500 polluters and not to households were wrong because an equivalent carbon price would apply to business fuel users. The ANAO says: “While the purpose of the ‘carbon price’ and the ‘equivalent carbon price’ were the same – to reduce CO2 emissions – they were distinct legal mechanisms to be implemented through separate Bills, and the Bill introducing the ‘carbon price’ did not place direct legal obligations on households and small businesses.” (page 216).
Mr Abbott should apologise to the public servants who developed the Clean Energy Future campaign and the members of the Independent Communications Committee who reviewed the campaign and found it complied the Guidelines on Information and Advertising Campaigns.
More importantly he should stop deliberately misleading the Australian public.
WEDNESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2012
