Scrapping carbon tax 'my first act' says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott Tony Abbott at the abbatoir. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images TONY Abbott says his "first act," if elected, would be to set about scrapping the carbon tax. "When I say we will get rid of the carbon tax, I am absolutely fair dinkum," the Opposition Leader said today, adding it would be the Coalition's "first order of business." Clad in a yellow vest, Mr Abbott and Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey visited an abattoir in the suburb of Riverview, near Ipswich west of Brisbane, as part of their first official event on the campaign trail. LIVE: Foolow all of today's election coverage and analysis in our rolling blog BATTLEGROUND: Western Sydney Labor's toughest test LEADERS: No US style debate ISSUES: Economy, trust, parental leave are key THE PITCH: Leaders open campaigns The facility, JBS Australia, received a $4.4 million Federal Government grant to cut greenhouse gases in January. "If you do not have profitable businesses, a tax like the carbon tax does cost jobs," Mr Hockey said. Mr Hockey said the carbon tax made businesses less competitive and pointed to the "fakery of Kevin Rudd," accusing him of keeping the tax under a new name. Mr Abbott said he had written to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to make clear his intentions to "repeal the so-called Clean Energy Legislative Package." In the letter, he requests that "arrangements are put in place to identify drafters who are expert in the legislative detail of this package." Drafting of new legislation would begin "immediately" following the September 7 poll. Mr Abbott acknowledged that he faced a potentially "hostile" Senate. He also reiterated that he had no plans to negotiate a minority government. When asked whether he would stand aside and allow Labor to negotiate a Government in the event of a hung parliament, he said: "The short answer is yes, because we want to deliver a strong Government, we want o deliver a decisive Government." He added that a hung parliament of minority government would not deliver those objectives. "Do you really want three more years of this?," he said. Earlier today, Mr Abbott said he did not want the campaign to turn into an American-style presidential election with constant head-to-heads. Mr Abbott has suggested the Rooty Hill RSL Club as the site for one community forum - the site of Julia Gillard's ill-fated foray into western Sydney earlier this year. But when the leaders were offered a spot on live breakfast television by the network, Mr Abbott said: "One thing we're not going to do though is turn this into an American-style election campaign." He said Mr Rudd was constantly demanding debates because he did not understand that. Mr Abbott also reiterated his plan to stop the boats. "We will make a difference from day one," he said. "I'm not saying it's easy," he said of the plan to turn asylum boats mid-voyage. But our navy stops pirate boats, the US coast guard turns around boats between America and Cuba. It's standard naval practice to intercept and turn around boats on the high seas. Our navy is a professional Navy. What they've done in the past they can do again. Mr Abbott will be in Sydney tonight to give a speech in western Sydney marking the end of Ramadan. Follow Jessica Marszalek on Twitter at JessMarie_News