PR and marketing

As the Carbon Tax has been passed through the lower house, regional Australians voice their opinions and concerns about what it may bring for the future of their businesses and everyday lives.

The 2011 FatCow.com.au Industry Survey has revealed that 78 percent of regional Australian business and non-business owners do not support the carbon tax, with 65 per cent stating that they do not believe the Carbon Tax will reduce carbon emissions. Considerable doubt seems to exist even amongst the minority group of Carbon Tax supporters (22 percent) of which 46 percent reported uncertainty about whether the Carbon Tax could reduce carbon emissions.

The survey of 1030 rural and regional Australians, conducted by FatCow.com.au, an online business directory servicing the Australian farming, agricultural and horticultural sectors, investigated the trends and issues surrounding rural and regional Australians.

The survey showed that when the attitudes of rural business owners and non business owners were compared, business owners were the most cynical towards the Carbon Tax. Over 80 percent of rural business owners stated that they would not support the Carbon Tax and 87 per cent showed they were concerned about the implications for their business.

Group Sales Manager for FatCow.com.au, Paul Ryan said, “Many regional and rural Australians have placed a negative connotation upon the Carbon Tax, stating that it won’t encourage them to reduce their carbon emissions – yet most are concerned about environmental issues for the future.”

Some comparisons of business and non-business owners included:
· 82 per cent of business owners stated they did not support the Carbon Tax as opposed to 72 percent of non-business owners.
· Almost 70 per cent of business owners do not think the Carbon Tax will reduce carbon emissions as opposed to 58 percent of non-business owners.
· 58 percent of business owners would not switch to alternate energy sources due to the Carbon tax as opposed to the 45 percent of non-business owners.

Regional Australians are also showing some confusion around what effect the tax will have - with many having contradictory thoughts about the use of alternative energy sources.

As a contradiction to these negative Carbon Tax responses, rural business owners are the most willing to reduce pollution and emissions and make an effort to switch to alternative energy sources.

“We can see that most of regional and rural Australians are concerned about climate change and are doing what they can to support environmental sustainability,” Mr Ryan said. “The Carbon Tax is just another way Australians can support the effort to reduce global warming.”

While majority of those surveyed would not use alternative energy sources due to the Carbon Tax, over 92 per cent state they are already making an effort to reduce pollution and carbon emissions.

Rural and regional Australians were surveyed about the effects of major issues on their town including the economy, environmental issues and cost of resources.

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For further information or interviews please contact:
Lauren Milne
CP Communications
Phone: 02 9922 1063

About FatCow.com.au and the survey
FatCow.com.au is an online business directory servicing the Australian farming, agricultural and horticultural sectors. Owned and operated by Catch, an online division of Reed Business Information Australia, FatCow.com.au provides a comprehensive central online source containing the latest product, company and industry news updates.

The survey of 1030 rural and regional Australians over the age of 18 years was carried out over the months of August, September and beginning of October, covering all states and territories of Australia and representing all demographics.
 www.fatcow.com.au

Catriona Pollard, owner of CP Communications is embracing the carbon tax and is happy to see the government taking action towards helping the environment.

“I think it’s a fair policy that is making the high polluters pay, which is a good thing. I don’t feel it’s going to impact small businesses too much and I don’t think it’ll impact individuals too much either,” she said.

“My thoughts are that it’s great that the government is doing something about dealing with the environment, and that the carbon tax, although it is a tax, is a positive step, because it’s highlighting the issue that we need to do something and we as a society need to pay for the carbon we’re putting in. As individuals and businesses, we need to step up and do something about the environment.”