On Thursday Australia became the first country in the world to abolish a price on carbon, with the Senate passing the government’s repeal bills 39 votes to 32.

After two weeks of negotiations, and several false starts, the Abbott government achieved its long-held ambition to axe the tax.

Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis said scrapping the tax would reduce power bills and help small businesses, saving the average Gilmore family $550 a year.

“Ever since I first became Liberal candidate for Gilmore in 2012, I’ve been meeting with families, residents and business owners across our region.

“The message has always been clear, scrap the tax,” she said.

“The scrapping of this tax will save $200 on the average household electricity bill and about $70 on the average gas bill.” 

She said the government’s consumer watchdog, the ACCC, had been given extra funding and powers to ensure the savings were passed on to consumers.

“Over the last 12 months, I’ve met with dozens of our local farmers, talking about their skyrocketing electricity costs and their ridiculous refrigeration costs,” Mrs Sudmalis said.

“The cost to re-gas the milk refrigeration systems of some of our local dairy farmers has gone from a few hundred to several thousand dollars under the carbon tax alone. 

“With the repeal of this toxic tax, this is one more saving that will help the bottom line of our local dairy farmers.

“There’s much more to do, but removing the world’s biggest carbon tax from the back of everyday small businesses and families is an important step in building a stronger economy,” Mrs Sudmalis said.