And pigs might fly !

There are some reassuring figures supporting the announcement  of the coming carbon tax.  Costings endorsed by government accountants expect the tax to cost the average household $ 9.90 a week, but compensation will amount to $ 10.10 - hence each home will be " over compensated " by a whole twenty cents.

More than half of this hit on household budgets will be caused by just two items.   Electricity bills will rise by $ 3.30 a week - and gas bills by $ 1.50  - to a combined $ 4.80 of that $ 9.90.

The announcement has been big on explaining how pensioners and low income people will be shielded, but there is not a word on another cost casualty that can be expected to try and balance it's budget by price increases across the board.

Just imagine what an increase in electricity and gas costs is going to impact on each state government ?

The mind boggles when the extent of  electricity use is considered in the thousands of government offices across the state.  Think of the number of primary and secondary schools - the gaol system - fire stations -and probably the biggest electricity user of them all - the electric railways serving the city of Sydney and it's surrounds.
And it doesn't stop there.   Then there is the power used to run the traffic light system and the hospitals - and when local government gets added - how about the street light system ?   And then there is heating in the school system.   Sadly, schools use unflued gas heaters - and that gas hike will be another big hit on the state government.

Back when state government's owned the electricity supply the bills for government use were merely a contra entry in Treasury ledgers, but today electricity is privately owned - and the government gets a bill, just like every other user connected to the mains.    They need to write a cheque - and that comes straight out of " Consolidated Revenue ".

Nobody seems to be talking about how the state governments are going to fund these extra charges - and of course the Federal government will say that this is not their problem !   But when push comes to shove, wait for the plethora of state government charges that will get hiked to balance the books - and when that promise that we will not be worse off comes home to roost - it can sit alongside a rejoiner that " pigs might fly ! "