The National Party candidate David Gillespie has accused Independent Lyne MP Rob Oakeshott of hypocrisy after the MP appealed to the NSW Government not to assess carbon compensation payments as income in order to increase public housing rents.
Mr Gillespie said, “It is a bit late for Mr Oakeshott to now start worrying about the cost of a carbon tax when he was responsible for personally helping the Labor Government to force it on Australian citizens.
“As was the case when Mr Oakeshott was in State Parliament, public housing tenants are required to pay 25 per cent of their income, so nothing has changed except that, because of Mr Oakeshott, we are all now forced to pay the world’s highest carbon tax,” Mr Gillespie said.
Mr Oakeshott fired back, saying, “Unlike nursing homes, which will also put up fees, the NSW Government does not pay pensioners’ electricity bills, gas bills or grocery bills.
“What the NSW Government is doing is profiteering from carbon pricing by blaming a rent increase on the ‘carbon tax’. If it were a business, it would be referred to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,” Mr Oakeshott said.
“While Mr Gillespie is happy for 25 per cent of pensioners’ compensation payments to be taken in increased rents on dubious claims about the impact of carbon pricing on maintenance costs, I am not.
“Unless of course, Mr Gillespie and the National Party are now going to provide all food and pay electricity costs for public housing tenants. If that were so, then it’s a different story.”
Mr Oakeshott said Mr Gillespie had already admitted publicly that he did not know his own National Party carbon tax and climate change policies so his comments defending the NSW Government’s cash grab came as no surprise.
“What has surprised me, and will no doubt surprise the NSW Nationals, is Mr Gillespie making a $50 million announcement on behalf of the NSW Government.
“In his first month on the job, Mr Gillespie has stated that, without the ‘carbon tax’, there would be no NSW public housing rent rise. With the pledge from his political party to remove the ‘carbon tax’ on day one of office, I therefore welcome Mr Gillespie announcing the removal of the NSW rental increase on public housing pensioners on day one as well,” Mr Oakeshott said.
“The federal National Party candidate’s time might be better spent explaining his party’s climate change and carbon tax policies to the public, rather than making funding promises on the run on behalf of the NSW Government.”
Mr Gillespie said, “Under a change approved by Julia Gillard, nursing homes will now be able to take 85 per cent of the aged pension, up from 84 per cent which equates to $180 per year, due to the carbon tax endorsed by Mr Oakeshott.
“The State Government is already trying to cope with a $300 million public housing maintenance backlog, surely he doesn’t think the State should also have to pay an extra $50 million in carbon tax on social housing. It really is quite simple, no carbon tax, no public housing rent increase,” Mr Gillespie said.
