SYDNEY (AP) — The ruling Labor Party's
probable collapse in Australia's next election is largely the
consequence of its qualified success in the last one three years ago. To
form the coalition she needed to stay in power, then-Prime Minister
Julia Gillard reneged on a promise and agreed to place a carbon tax on
major polluters.
On Saturday, the bill for
that bargain comes due. Voters have never stopped hating the tax and its
effect on their electric bills. Longtime Labor Party supporters — even
people who have helped cut pollution by installing solar panels at home —
have flocked to the opposition.
"Whoever
gets rid of it will get my vote," said Mark Keene, a 54-year-old
maintenance worker from Sydney who, for the first time in his life,
won't be voting for Labor.
Opposition
leader Tony Abbott has declared the election a "referendum on the carbon
tax" — a sure sign of confidence that most voters remain staunchly
against it, with many believing that companies forced to pay the tax are
simply passing the cost onto consumers.
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