Carbon tax betrayal

Despite a lot of hand-wringing about the ‘tone’ of our carbon tax debate, most Australians wouldn’t hesitate to pin the b-word on Julia Gillard’s carbon cabal.

The tax is nothing less than an act of betrayal. For these Australians, words have meaning. On an issue of far-reaching importance, she explicitly ruled something out before the election, but did it anyway. No amount of weasel words, or hair-splitting from media apologists, can change that.

Reducing all politics to a word-game, Labor flacks reject the use of ‘betrayal’ as inflammatory and extreme. Gillard and her allies were duly elected. They are entitled to pass any legislation they like, so long as they can muster the numbers. That’s parliamentary democracy. Some just muddy the waters, posing alternative but inapplicable meanings of the word. True enough, we’re not talking about the technical crime of treason, or collaboration with agents of a foreign power to subvert the national interest. Nor are we discussing…