I get i've disappointed you PM admits

JULIA Gillard last night admitted she had disappointed some voters by introducing a carbon tax, but said she was convinced it was the right plan for Australia’s future.

The Prime Minister also warned consumers to beware of shonky shops that may try to rip them off by already increasing prices and blaming the carbon tax, the Herald Sun reported.

Speaking at the Sky News people’s forum in Brisbane, Ms Gillard said when she promised during the election campaign there would be no carbon tax, she meant those words but circumstances had changed.

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“I get I’ve disappointed you,” she told an audience of undecided voters.

“A lot of people don’t like the carbon tax decision, but I’m absolutely convinced it’s right.”

The PM said instead of taking the easy path, she had made the tougher political choice to give Australia a clean-energy future.

She said her package was “a better plan” than her predecessor Kevin Rudd’s, because it had a more ambitious target to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, there was more for clean-energy schemes, and it included tax reform as part of the household assistance.

Ms Gillard said any shops already claiming prices would have to rise by 10-15 per cent were “just simply ripping people off”, because overall price rises would rise less than 1 per cent and not before next July.

The Competition and Consumer Commission has been given $12.8 million to monitor prices. It will employ an extra 20 carbon cops, and consumers who suspect a shop of price-gouging have been urged to call the ACCC hotline, 1300 302 502.

It is the same job the ACCC did for the Howard government when it introduced the GST 11 years ago.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said companies making misleading claims or gouging customers could face fines up to $1.1 million.

“The vast majority of businesses will do the right thing, but those businesses that don’t will face the full force of the law and heavy fines,” he said.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the ACCC should investigate Ms Gillard.

“The Prime Minister herself was misleading and deceptive before the election and the deception continues,” he said.

Senior Liberal Malcolm Turnbull told ABC radio Mr Abbott “had been a supporter of a carbon tax at one point” but changed his position.

“I’ve given Tony Abbott a consistency and a loyalty that, frankly, I didn’t receive consistently from all of my colleagues while I was leader,” he said.

iphone.news.com.au 14 Jul 2011

Australia's current Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, had admitted that the not only the public are NOT satisfied with her Carbon Tax business 'Money for Mates' deals, but also the masses are fully aware that Gillard made fraudulent statements prior to becoming Prime Minister.

Gillard said that she will not implement any carbon tax whilst in office as Prime Minister, a fact that she went back on.

Fraud in governance commonly goes unpunished, and now more than ever the strength of the government is flaunted in front of the general population by showing the masses that they can do as they please.