The latest official figures reveal that the rise in road and bridge construction costs moderated significantly following the introduction of the Carbon Price on 1 July 2012 – the complete opposite of what Tony Abbott and his sidekick Nationals Leader Warren Truss said would happen.
In fact the rise in the December quarter was just 0.4 per cent, lower than that recorded in the preceding three months (0.8 per cent) and a third of the average over the past decade (1.2 per cent).
This reality stands in stark contrast with the doomsday predictions concocted and perpetuated by the Federal Coalition over the past 18 months.  Indeed, Mr Truss has previously claimed the Carbon Price was going to “add greatly to road building costs” and would “put the brakes” on major projects.
Reality has put the lie to such baseless allegations.
Yet another of the Federal Coalition’s Carbon Price myths has been exposed.  It’s unfortunate that Tony Abbott has had to resort to such blatant deceptions in order to conceal his lack of a positive, fully-costed plan for the future.
I am proud to be part of a government that’s been prepared to do what’s right and not simply take the easy option of leaving action on Climate Change to future generations.
The source of the latest figures is the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Producer Prices Indexes.