http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/13842130/govt-cautions-business-ov...Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has warned that businesses which hike the cost of their goods under the guise of the carbon tax will be caught.
"I heard about one pie shop for example that was going to put their pies up some extraordinary amount," Mr Combet told ABC television, noting food prices will increase by less than half a cent in the dollar.
"If you are a business person thinking that you are going to use this as an opportunity to put prices up I would be very, very careful, because we will have the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) on you," he said, referring to the consumer watchdog.
The government was in discussions with electricity companies to have them include information breaking down the actual cost increases of the carbon tax with every bill, Mr Combet said.
He also conceded that there could be implementation problems when the carbon price takes effect."I'm working hard to make sure that there are not ... but you never know, something might emerge."
Opposition climate spokesman Greg Hunt says the cost impact of the carbon tax will be ten per cent.
"On day one what we'll see is the price of turning on your lights, of opening the fridge, of turning on the television, of using your heating or cooling, go up," he told ABC television.
The coalition would repeal the carbon tax within 12 months if elected to government, he said.
Australia's biggest carbon emitters, fewer than 500 in number, will pay $23 for every tonne of carbon they put into the atmosphere from July.
This will be followed by a market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015, with an aim to cut 160 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2020.
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