Carbon dioxide tax and shopping

I do not normally go shopping with the wife, but I did on Sunday 17th June 2012, about 2 weeks before the carbon dioxide came into effect. I also joined her again today, Sunday 15th July 2012, about 2 weeks after the carbon dioxide tax came into effect.

The first shop we went to was Aldi, cheaper than Coles and Woolies but with a much limited range in brands.

Given all things being equal, time, day of week, weather conditions, the difference in the amount of people was astounding. There would have been double the amount of people in the shop from the month before.

We also had to go to Coles on both days to collect some items not available at Aldi.

The amount of people in Coles was the reverse of Aldi, more people the month before than today.

So I postulate that the carbon dioxide tax has already started to affect the way people shop, that is they are looking for cheaper products because they know they will be paying more for all items under a carbon dioxide tax regime.

This will ultimately have an effect on tax revenue as the less that is spent the less GST is being collected.

This carbon dioxide tax could hurt this ALP government in more ways than unpopularity, it could affect the bottom line of the Australian budget.