Country Australia is not happy with the carbon tax. Recent frustrations include the exemption of petrol but not diesel from the carbon tax and the impact of the carbon tax on the cost of irrigated agriculture, particularly cotton. These concerns, combined with frustration over the temporary live cattle exports ban, have prompted Queensland Country Life to run with this over-the-top and arguably partisan headline:

 Extraordinary. It’s hard to see how the Government recovers from the political damage it has received over the carbon tax. Will the release of the package on Sunday calm everybody down, or will the release of the details simply provide clearer data for both sides to argue with? The latter is most likely, as the package is expected to generate both winners and losers.

It is likely that the winners will include over-compensated low and middle-income families and pensioners, while losers will include high-income families, singles, small business people and farmers. A vigorous debate about who is most deserving of compensation will no doubt follow.