LOCAL farmers are eagerly anticipating increased profits after the carbon tax was axed yesterday morning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After two weeks of intense and unpredictable negotiations, the cross-bench Senators voted with the government to abolish the price on carbon and the legally enshrined emissions reduction target.
NSW Irrigators Council chairman Richard Stott said the tax was crippling farmers for no real reason and the repeal was "a must".
"It's a most ridiculous think when the country' struggling to put an unnecessary impost on farmers," Mr Stott said.
"Every irrigator in the Riverina who uses electricity for centres pivots, or drip irrigation, everyone will register big savings.
"In my own farming business alone it's going to save me $50,000 per year.
"You have to ask the question, is the carbon tax saving Australia? Is it saving the world?"
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Australia cut carbon dioxide emissions from its electricity sector by as much as 17 million tonnes because of the carbon price and would have curbed more had industry expected the price to be permanent, according to an Australian National University study.
"We see the carbon price doing what it was meant to do, and what it was expected to do, namely dampen demand and shift the supply from dirtier to cleaner sources of electricity," said Associate Professor Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy.
The repeal also included an amendment negotiated by Clive Palmer to penalise electricity and gas companies 250 per cent of any cost savings that are not passed on in the future.
Par Avion, the airline that services the Griffith to Melbourne route, foresaw the repeal of the carbon tax and has been covering the cost since it began flying in March.