Big Brother imposes fines up to $1M for blaming carbon tax., Tell me this is fake. Options

[Director]

Ok, if anyone can sort through the bullshit it's you guys. I was just starting to read this and it smelled like a huge scam, like something The Onion would do but now I'm not so sure.

Link 1

Praised by Barack Obama as a model for the world, Australia’s highly unpopular carbon tax, set to take effect from July 1st, is set to be policed by laws which forbid business owners from criticizing it for causing price rises – with thought criminals who do so under threat of being hit with huge fines of over $1 million dollars.

“SHOPS and restaurants could face fines up to $1.1 million if waiters or sales staff wrongly blame the carbon tax for price rises or exaggerate the impact,” reports the Daily Telegraph.

According to ACCC deputy chairman Dr Michael Schaper, the warning applies, “to comments made by staff over the phone, on the shop floor or in meetings. It also covers advertising, product labels, websites, invoices, contracts and contract negotiations.”

This draconian measure will be enforced by teams of “carbon cops” who roam the streets conducting snap inspections of businesses to ensure they are not making any reference to the tax.

The characterization of dissent against the carbon tax as a criminal offense exemplifies how the measure passed last year goes way beyond merely forcing Australia’s top 500 companies to pay an extra $23.78 per each tonne of CO2 emitted. The system will be rolled into a carbon trading system by 2015.

Not only will Australians be whacked with price rises on everything from energy to food, small business owners will also be intimidated into silence when they are forced to pay out more for key supplies. Energy prices across the country have already been skyrocketing over the course of the last year.

Link 2

SHOPS and restaurants could face fines up to $1.1 million if waiters or sales staff wrongly blame the carbon tax for price rises or exaggerate the impact.

And households are being warned to watch out for telephone scammers offering to deposit carbon tax compensation into their bank accounts.

The prices watchdog, the ACCC, will today launch its countdown to the July 1 carbon tax with a special focus on helping small businesses understand their obligations and consumers to be vigilant for false claims.

It is releasing internet videos to help business, a 16-page guide and has set up a dedicated website www.accc.gov.au/carbon.

ACCC deputy chairman Dr Michael Schaper told the Herald Sun companies were entitled to increase their prices and did not have to justify or explain why.

"It is business as usual,'' Dr Schaper said.

But if they blamed the carbon tax they must be able to prove it and not use it as a cover for other price increases related to wages, rent or stock.

Of course how you could prove it one way or the other is an interesting read too.

Link 3

THE consumer watchdog has admitted that price rises blamed on the new carbon tax will be harder to police than the GST's launch 12 years ago.

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission deputy chairman Michael Schaper yesterday described the carbon tax as "a very different beast" to the GST.

"The GST was a mathematical exercise -- you take out the wholesale tax and put on the GST and the price should be X," he said.

"Here we're dealing with 500 or so big carbon polluters paying the carbon tax, and the flow-on effect through the economy is much harder to predict."

Dr Schaper warned businesses that their competitors -- and not just consumers -- were already starting to dob them in for false claims of price rises resulting from the tax, which starts on July 1.

"If you want to move your prices up and say it's due to the carbon price, you have to back that up," he said. "And you can't sit around the table with your competitors and say, 'I'm going to put prices up 10 per cent because of the carbon tax, why don't you do the same?' That's good old-fashioned price fixing."

So the justification is to stop businesses from rorting the carbon dioxide tax, allegedly, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who's rorting things. If a cup of coffee costs 10 bucks at one place but $4 everywhere else then you know someone's making a profit. If it jumps to $10 everywhere and the only thing that's changed is the introduction of another draconian tax then logically it is the tax that caused the price rise. Forcing business owners to then produce the paper trail from their suppliers and delivery guys etc all the way back to the alleged carbon dioxide producer is quite simply, ludicrous.

So the ACCC is threatening you to have all your facts right before blaming the carbon dioxide tax on the one hand, but on the other hand it admits that's it's going to be almost impossible to track the changes anyway. Brilliant.

Link to the ACCC site: ACCC Carbon site


I guess if the fines don't work at stopping government criticism they can always shoot you in the face with one of their drones?

This post has been edited by Director: May 26 2012, 10:08 AM

[Athiril]

"1984 lololololol".

You also get fined for swearing in public now.

This post has been edited by Athiril: May 26 2012, 10:19 AM

[Director]

The fuck you say?

[Athiril]

The fuck you say?

Were you put in a cave last year?

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-a...0531-1fepo.html

[Director]

Nah, just too hard to keep up with it all these days. Even Jones got on to it though. (Starts at the 20 minute mark)

[Athiril]

How else do you propose to silence any opposition against the carbon tax?

[ReapermanRS]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/money/don...0-1226366534694

According to that ever reputable source The Tele' you only have to prove that your price rises were attributable to the carbon tax

ACCC deputy chairman Dr Michael Schaper told the Herald Sun companies were entitled to increase their prices and did not have to justify or explain why.
Related Coverage

"It is business as usual,'' Dr Schaper said.

But if they blamed the carbon tax they must be able to prove it and not use it as a cover for other price increases related to wages, rent or stock.

"If a business claims that a price is linked to the carbon price, that claim must be truthful and have a reasonable basis,'' he said.

Dr Schaper said the warning applied to comments made by staff over the phone, on the shop floor or in meetings.
It also covers advertising, product labels, websites, invoices, contracts and contract negotiations.

The ACCC has the power to force a business to substantiate that a price rise has been caused by the carbon tax.
The guide explains what businesses can and cannot do, and provides a checklist to follow.

Dr Schaper said businesses must be sure price rises were "based on your own costs''.

_{I wonder if anyone will spot the sarcasm?}

[freespace]

Yeah, because coffee shops would never collude and use the carbon tax as an excuse to make an extra $6 bucks in your example.

That is not to say they will, but simply pointing out that you are vastly over simplifying it.

In any case, the Government can do no right in your eyes. If they failed to stop people from exploiting their policies for monetary gain, you rag on them, and rightly so. For example the solar insulation scheme. So now they put in regulation to make sure no one can raise the prices and then pay off Alan Jones to blame it on the carbon tax without proof, and you rag on them for being thought police. This is despite the the only thing ACCC will reinforce is claims without reasonable basis or plain untrue, no worse than the standards we require of advertisement in general. Remember those perpetually "closing down" carpet stores? The "80%" off jewellery prices that were marked up by the same amount in the first place?

But whatever man, fuck da power! People should be able to say whatever they want to make a buck, freedom of speech man! WOOOOOO

This post has been edited by freespace: May 26 2012, 10:49 AM

[Hlass]

Can we change the thread title to "Gullible paranoids terrified by attempts to save them from price scams?"

Not very catchy I know. Will have to work on that.

Carbon gougers face fines


BUSINESSES blaming price rises on the carbon tax have been warned by the corporate watchdog ACCC they could face a $1million bill for misleading the public.

ACCC deputy chair Michael Schaper told the Mercury in Hobart yesterday businesses blaming the July 1 carbon price for increases in their goods and services would run the risk of running foul of the law and would have to prove their cases.

"The rules are clear," Mr Schaper said. "Prices can move up and down but when focusing on price rises you have to have a reasonable basis to do so.

"They can't mislead customers on how and why costs have gone up." Mr Schaper said businesses were most likely to be dobbed in by their competitors rather than their customers. Businesses can be given infringement notices of between $6600 and $66,000 and cop a court imposed penalty of $1.1 million for breaching Australian Consumer Law.

Mr Schaper will be in Hobart today to discuss the carbon price and trends in scamming.

Last year the ACCC received 85,000 reports of scams, collectively costing Australians $85 million.

He said the ACCC had seen a return to telephone scams with technology like VOIP (voice over internet protocol) making it more cost-effective for scammers to chat to try and lure victims.

"Scammers can try to grab them much better because once you start talking, you can grab them easier than with an anonymous email and start selling them a story," he said.

He added fake trading websites were also coming online.

"People are buying products and never see them," he said.

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/...mania-news.html

[Athiril]

Dr Schaper said businesses must be sure price rises were "based on your own costs''.

Cost based pricing is only 1 method of pricing, there are other (legitimate I might) add pricing methods.

This post has been edited by Athiril: May 26 2012, 10:55 AM

[xnatex]

here is the carbon tax, you will embrace it or else...

[Athiril]

Cynic in me suggests its another attempt at banning disruptive political speech.

[freespace]

Cynic in me suggests its another attempt at banning disruptive political speech.

The cynic in you should also suggests that business will do everything they can to exploit the new tax for their own gain.

[Athiril]

Cynic in me suggests its another attempt at banning disruptive political speech.

The cynic in you should also suggests that business will do everything they can to exploit the new tax for their own gain.

Big businesses are cunts, and? They were cunts before carbon tax.


Sole traders have received tax breaks though now iirc. Along with workers. (income tax has been reduced).



So, all of a sudden the Government wants to protect people from businesses exploiting a cost rise to be paid for the privilege of passing on costs? Lol what?






This post has been edited by Athiril: May 26 2012, 11:56 AM

[bastion308]

What gets me is do they realy think prices arnt going to go up. In my business costs are going to up and they all stack on top of each other Power,gas,stock,Fuel, suppliers cost it all eats into the profit margin now most businesses will have already done the figures to see if
they remain profitable and its pretty simple the ones who can get away with passing on the added tax will and the ones that cant will close.

[freespace]

So, all of a sudden the Government wants to protect people from businesses exploiting a cost rise to be paid for the privilege of passing on costs? Lol what?

LOL WHAT is the correct response, because I have no idea what you are trying to say. Your sentence structure is a real WTF.

[Director]

I think he's trying to say that a Government which has exaggerated and lied about global warming and carbon dioxide so as to establish a punitive tax is now going to take away our freedom to exaggerate and lie about the carbon tax.

Cynic in me suggests its another attempt at banning disruptive political speech.

The cynic in you should also suggests that business will do everything they can to exploit the new tax for their own gain.

From what I can see, small business is struggling for survival. So what about competition.

If one business puts up their prices "unfairly" profiting from the carbon tax, then another business will not.

This is nothing to do with unfair pricing and everything to do with stifling criticism of a failing Government. Popularity can not be created by stifling criticism.

Popularity has to be earned by good Government, that's why your claim that for me, the government can do no good, does actually have some merit. Though it's not that they can do no good, just that they choose not to. (OK I suspect they do do some good, but hey you never hear me complaining when they do. :) )

[drago13666]

I don't have any issues with the threat of fines for blaming the carbon tax.

If prices significantly rise on items claiming to be environmentally friendly then you know something fishy is going on.

If the profit margin on items go up significantly then you know something unusual is going on.

If the prices don't change but company's are trying to blame their prices on the carbon tax then you know something is wrong.

[Director]

I think if the prices don't change then people wont enquire anyway. :)

[codecreeper]

I think if the prices don't change then people wont enquire anyway. :)

Everyone is raising prices on Electricity ,Water and sewerage Bills . Everything across the board is going up for this new tax.