"There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead"

Even Richard Farmer from the very left-leaning Crikey.com.au is appalled at the way Julia Gillard has gone back on what she said to the Australian people during the last federal election campaign. When solemn election promises can be broken without even a pretence of explanation parliamentary democracy is in a sad, sad state. So it is in Australia now that Julia Gillard has confirmed that her word means nothing. Before the last election she vowed that there would be no carbon tax if she became Prime Minister. Today she announced one. Ms Gillard now stands exposed as one of the great political liars of all times. She is not a woman to be trusted. Here's the video: Though very quickly on Twitter the excuse was 'well, John Howard said there'd never be a GST, and then he introduced it.' Which is fine, except for one little point. Howard, once he'd decided to try again to introduce a GST first took the proposal to the people at a general election. He staked his political survival on winning that election, and thus gaining a mandate, before introducing it. He didn't say during that election campaign he wouldn't introduce a goods and services tax, only to do so once returned as the prime minister.  Unlike Ms Gillard and her carbon tax. And I'll pose the question here I've previously put to the Greens, only to be fobbed off: by how much will this measure, which by its very nature will drive up the cost of just about everything, reduce the average global temperature?