Australia Enlists Big Business, Community Groups On Climate Policy
October 17 2010 - 7:10PM
Dow Jones News
Australia's minority Labor government said Monday it has
enlisted big business and community groups to give advice to
lawmakers on climate change policy, in a bid to head off any
opposition to plans to green up the economy before it takes
seed.
"The introduction of a carbon price will reshape the business
environment for all Australian companies, providing businesses with
the certainty they need to begin the transition to a low pollution
economy," Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Greg
Combet said in a joint statement.
The new roundtable, which includes business groups the
Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Australian
Industry Group and Business Council of Australia, alongside
companies like BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Bluescope Steel (BSL.AU),
Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) and Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AU), is designed
to "ensure that the views of the business community are front and
center as we progress this important economic reform," they
said.
A separate roundtable of non-government organizations, including
the Australian Conservation Foundation and The Climate Institute
was also announced Monday.
Climate change issues have been given a fresh start in Australia
after an August federal election narrowly returned the center-left
Labor Party to office--but only with the support of rural-based
independents and a Greens party lawmaker who are pushing for
climate action.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made it increasingly clear she
intends to use the new alliance between her minority government and
independents to accelerate moves to green up the economy, reversing
an election pledge not to push for any form of tax on
greenhouse-gas emissions during the current three-year
parliamentary term.
Australia is the biggest per capita polluter in the developed
world because of its reliance on fossil fuels, mainly coal, for
electricity generation.
The Greens, who will hold the balance of power in the Senate
from July 1, want Australia to introduce a carbon tax as an interim
measure before introducing a full carbon trading scheme once a
global agreement is reached.
Businesses have leant support to the idea of a carbon tax in
recent weeks, including BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers, who
last month said it would provide certainty for future
investment.
A failure to look beyond coal-fired electricity will "place us
at a competitive disadvantage in a future where carbon is priced
globally," Kloppers said.
-By Rachel Pannett, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-6208-0901;
rachel.pannett@dowjones.com
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