Bob Baldwin, Member for Paterson
said that Prime Minister Gillard should stop lecturing and actually start
listening to the local Hunter community.
“I issued a written invitation to
Ms Gillard to come the Hunter for a town hall forum on her carbon tax and she
hasn’t even bothered to reply,” said Mr Baldwin.
“Obviously Ms Gillard would prefer
a perfectly staged photo opportunity, than a chance to answer the real
questions about her tax.
“Just this morning on local radio,
Ms Gillard admitted that small business owners would need to increase the price
of their goods to compensate for climbing electricity prices under the tax.
“With households already
struggling under the rising cost of living, this could well be the straw that
breaks the camel’s back - and what happens when the compensation runs out?”
said Mr Baldwin.
Mr Baldwin re-issued his invite to
Ms Gillard to attend an open town hall forum in the Paterson electorate.
“Last time Ms Gillard was in my
electorate she chose to have a beer rather than attend a meeting with hundreds
of people concerned about aircraft noise impacts,” said Mr Baldwin.
“This time she has come to the
Hunter and completely ignored the thousands of people who want their carbon tax
questions answered.
“Ms Gillard is obviously scared to
attend a town hall forum in the Hunter, where steel, aluminium, mining and
manufacturing jobs are under threat from her bad tax.”
