Ai Group came up with the estimate from 485 surveyed
businesses, but the heated debate over the carbon pricing reforms adopted last
July may have been behind that result in the November survey.
A survey that shows businesses have estimated a 14.5 per
cent jump in energy costs due to the carbon tax underlines why the impost must
be scrapped, Tony Abbott says.
The federal opposition leader says the Australian Industry
Group (Ai Group) survey shows company power price rises are well above the 10
per cent increases the federal government has so far been prepared to concede.
He says the additional cost is an example of how the carbon
tax is worsening job uncertainty and elevating the cost of living.
"It just goes to show that if you want to get this
economy going again, if you want to make people's jobs more secure, (and)
families' cost of living lower, get rid of the carbon tax," Abbott told
reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"That will be the first thing that an incoming
coalition government does."
Pointing to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing
a smaller 6.7 per cent increase in power prices for the September quarter, the
Ai Group report said "the high profile of the carbon tax appears to have
led to some over-estimation by business (of its impact)".
The lobby group's report is based on a series of surveys
conducted with businesses in the construction, manufacturing and services
sectors.
In another survey, 49 per cent of businesses said their
energy and other input costs had risen since the July introduction of the tax.
The impact across the economy has been uneven, with 61 per
cent of manufacturing businesses, 36 per cent of service businesses and 52 per
cent of businesses in the construction industry reporting a rise in costs.
Ai Group chief Innes Willox said food manufacturers were
hardest hit and were restricted from passing on the increased costs to
consumers due to a host of factors, including competition from imports
unaffected by carbon pricing.
"Food manufacturers do not qualify for the
trade-exposed industry assistance program and are currently facing substantial
resistance to price rises from the major retailers," he said in a
statement.
Of those surveyed, he said just 42 per cent intended to
increase their prices.
A spokesman for Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said a
previous Ai Group study had found most businesses spent just two per cent or
less of their total revenue on energy expenses.
"This makes the carbon price impact on total costs an
increase of around 0.2 per cent of revenue," the spokesman said.
"The Ai Group report confirms that carbon pricing is a
manageable economic and environmental reform.
