By Anhar Khanbhai

Julia Gillard has rejected reports that shopping centre giant Westfield is introducing a charge clause in lease agreements for its onsite retailers to balance the impact Labor's carbon tax will have.

Gillard referred to a statement by the Shopping Centre Council of Australia (SCCA), which says the clause is not new, does not directly refer to a carbon tax and began appearing in some retail lease agreements years ago when debate about legislative action to combat greenhouse emissions started.

"Discussions about combating greenhouse gas emissions has been around for a while, right back to the days that Tony Abbott was standing alongside John Howard backing a carbon price," Gillard told reporters in Canberra last week.

However, the SCCA also said the reality was that after July 1, when the Federal Government's carbon emissions tax comes into effect, electricity charges in shopping centres would likely rise forcing landlords to pass down costs to their tenants who would in turn have to increase prices to be able to cope.

The SCCA said it should not come as a surprise.

"The prices of some goods will inevitably rise too," it said.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said the Westfield clause proved the Government's claim that only the top 500 big polluting companies would pay the carbon tax was "just wrong".

"This is not a top 500 tax, it is a hairdresser tax," he told reporters in Canberra.

"In every shopping centre, in every shop all around Australia, it is the small businesses that will pay and it is the mums and dads and pensioners who will pay."

24/7 businesses to feel the pinch

The Australasian Association of Convenience Stores said the carbon tax would be "strongly negative" for business operators, who often had to use electricity 24/7 to run their operations.

Surveys of the association’s 80 members showed more than two-thirds were worried about the impact of the carbon tax on costs.

Almost 70% of the association's members, who employ more than 13,000 people, believed the carbon tax will "negatively" impact on employment prospects.
Jeff Rogut, the AACS executive director, said most members did not have the luxury of shutting off power.

"The nature of our 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year industry means higher utility costs are already a source of serious pressure for convenience stores," Rogut said.