Nolan's Transport boss angered that industry's emissions progress goes unrecognised in Canberra
By Rob McKay | July 20, 2011
Terry Nolan has called on others in transport and logistics to lead the industry’s public resistance to the carbon tax.
After a week in the media spotlight and speaking with the likes of Opposition leader Tony Abbott, the owner of Nolan’s Transport believes industry voices other than his own need to be heard.
“We’ve got to get other people than me involved – I’m involved to the eyeballs,” he says.
“I don’t like it at all.
“I’ve had my punch at the cherry – it needs to come from someone else.”
Nolan bemoaned the lack of political recognition for the advances the industry has made already towards cleaning up emissions.
“The thing that really annoys me about it is that we’ve been running Euro 5 trucks now and we’ve just bought another 14 and we’re running new engines in our fridge motors and we’ve still got to go and pay a carbon tax – why?
“I asked Tony Abbott and he didn’t know either.”
Though he is not persuaded that direct action was a viable option, Nolan believes the likelihood is increasing.
“I think it’s getting closer and closer every day,” he says.
It gave him no satisfaction to have been moved down from 151st to 231st of the top 300 biggest carbon emitters on the government’s list – still well within the top 500 cut-off for those who will be taxed.
“They put the decimal point in the wrong place,” he says of the error.
Nolan is particularly concerned for the ability of local manufacturing to be able to compete with imports.
“I believe we’re in for a rocky road big time,” he says.
“Unless things happen in politics pretty quick, I can’t see a lot of people doing very well out of it at all.”