Inside job: how to kill a tax you hate

Clive Palmer had his ETS scheme knocked back but did not make it a condition for his support in repealing the carbon tax. Picture: Ray Strange

WHEN Clive Palmer was just a humble businessman, he hated the carbon tax so much that he delayed paying it, and one of his companies went as far as launching High Court action to have it scrapped.

In turns out that winning the federal seat of Fairfax and creating his own political party looks set to be a quicker and more effect­ive way of seeing it gone.

The High Court case is still winding its way through the system. But in announcing that he would direct his three senators (plus Victoria’s Ricky Muir) to scrap the carbon tax when they take their seats in the new Senate in a little more than a week, Palmer has not only made himself the centre of political attention in Canberra, he has delivered a significant boon to his business interests that will kick in as soon as next month.

The genesis of Palmer’s threat to go to the High Court was the impact of the carbon tax on Queensland Nickel’s Yabulu refin­ery in north Queensland.

The Yabulu operation, near Townsville, has a colourful history, once having been owned by Alan Bond. It was later bought by BHP, which then sold it to Palmer, who famously lavished a $10 million Christmas bonus on the staff who worked there.

But Yabulu has been hit hardest by the carbon tax because it is the highest-emitting nickel refinery in the country. And because of the way carbon tax compensation is assessed, the current regime not only slugs Queensland Nickel with a bill of more than $6m a year in tax, it gives a competitive advantage over the other two nickel refineries in the country.

This is because carbon tax compensation is paid based on the average emissions across an industry. Because Yabulu is an above-average emitter, it receives below-average compensation.

Palmer resigned his directorships from the Queensland Nickel companies in April, but according to his register of members’ interests he still owns the refinery through Nickel House.

Palmer’s would-be mining operations will also be rejoicing at the demise of the carbon tax. Through his company Waratah Coal, Palmer has been promoting the China First thermal coal proj­ect in Queensland’s Galilee Basin.

The coal industry was one of the most vocal critics of the carbon tax, which covered so-called fugitive emissions — the gas that escapes as the coal is mined.

The Minerals Council of Australia, in its submission to the ­energy white paper, attacked the carbon tax’s impact on the coal sector. “The carbon tax imposed an $800m burden on so-called fugitive emissions, making Australia the only country in the world to impose a carbon impost. (Such emissions are excluded from the European Union’s emissions trading scheme),’’ it said.

Palmer’s interests extend from iron ore in Western Australia to the Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast, where he installed the Palmersaurus. He has invited the whole electorate of Fairfax to the resort this weekend for some fun and political speeches.

On the ABC’s Lateline on Wednesday night, Palmer was distancing himself from his business empire.

“I don’t have an empire,’’ he said. “I’m just a member of parliament.

“I’m retired from my businesses. I couldn’t care what happens to them, really.

“I’ve got — they say in the BRW my wealth’s gone from $2 billion to $1bn. I couldn’t care if it was $100m or 50c.
“I’m a citizen of this country and I won’t be stopped by people saying all this rubbish about me. I’ll just express my opinion. It’s up to the people of Australia if they want to elect me. I’m a representative in parliament of the Australian people.’’

By yesterday, he was saying he would not get any saving from scrapping the carbon tax and he was retired from business. Money had nothing to do with his climate change policy decision.

Palmer may no longer be focused on money, but his decision to personally bankroll his bid to go to Canberra will be a multi-million-dollar boost to Yabulu and won’t hurt his coal dream either.

It may turn out to be a nice little earner.