JACK’S Corner Store owner Simon Clarke welcomes the abolition of the carbon tax, saying it will shave thousands of dollars a year off his operation costs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Clarke said the savings would come from reduced electricity bills and a decrease in the cost of refrigerant gas.
“Our electricity bills have been atrocious for the past five years,” he said.
Mr Clarke said his electricity bill had increased by $4000 a year since the introduction of the carbon tax, while the cost of refrigerant gas had jumped from $80 a kilogram to $230.
“We’ve just had to absorb those costs ... and it hasn’t changed the air outside,” he said.
Mr Clarke is confident the savings will be passed on to consumers and the business community “because the ACC [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] says they have to be”.
The owner of Greengate Supermarket Tracey Zelukovic said the carbon tax had cost her thousands of dollars in electricity and refrigerant gas bills.
“I think it’s fantastic that it’s gone, I’m very thankful,” she said.
Mrs Zelukovic said while some of the costs associated with the carbon tax had been passed on to consumers, most had been absorbed by her business.
“We actually got rid of a few fridges because of it,” she said.
“Now we should be able to put more stock on the shelves.”
Mrs Zelukovic said she’d spoken to several other small business owners in Orange who had also suffered financially as a result of the carbon tax’s introduction.
Master Grocers Australia chief executive officer Jos de Bruin said the removal of the carbon tax would save independent supermarkets about $70 million a year across Australia.
