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Cattle farmers blow up over fart tax
17:10 AEST Sun Sep 5 2004
An ill-wind has blown through the federal election campaign.
The Cattle Council of Australia demanded reassurance from Labor that it would not introduce a so-called fart tax.
The fart tax, known in more polite circles as an animal emissions tax, has been considered in other countries, most recently New Zealand.
The aim is to cut the amount of methane, a greenhouse gas, produced by cattle and other ruminant livestock by changing what is in their feed or switching to less gassy breeds.
Cattle Council president Keith Adams said a fart tax on Australia's 27 million bovines would be a tragedy that would do little to help the environment.
"Any emissions tax on livestock would be an unfounded attack on Australian cattle producers," he said.
"A fart tax would be an economic tragedy and scientific nonsense for our $12 billion beef industry which prides itself on good environmental stewardship."
Mr Adams said a fart tax of around 50 cents an animal would be a $13 million slug on the cattle industry.
But Labor's finance spokesman Bob McMullan, without referring to fart or flatulence, managed to rule out the idea for an ALP government.
"That's one of the more extraordinary propositions," he told reporters.
"I'm happy to say, in all the discussions we've had about all the policy options that might be undertaken, that didn't come up."
©AAP 2004
17:10 AEST Sun Sep 5 2004
An ill-wind has blown through the federal election campaign.
The Cattle Council of Australia demanded reassurance from Labor that it would not introduce a so-called fart tax.
The fart tax, known in more polite circles as an animal emissions tax, has been considered in other countries, most recently New Zealand.
The aim is to cut the amount of methane, a greenhouse gas, produced by cattle and other ruminant livestock by changing what is in their feed or switching to less gassy breeds.
Cattle Council president Keith Adams said a fart tax on Australia's 27 million bovines would be a tragedy that would do little to help the environment.
"Any emissions tax on livestock would be an unfounded attack on Australian cattle producers," he said.
"A fart tax would be an economic tragedy and scientific nonsense for our $12 billion beef industry which prides itself on good environmental stewardship."
Mr Adams said a fart tax of around 50 cents an animal would be a $13 million slug on the cattle industry.
But Labor's finance spokesman Bob McMullan, without referring to fart or flatulence, managed to rule out the idea for an ALP government.
"That's one of the more extraordinary propositions," he told reporters.
"I'm happy to say, in all the discussions we've had about all the policy options that might be undertaken, that didn't come up."
©AAP 2004
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