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| Australia Passes Clean Energy Legislation |
by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong
Monday, November 14, 2011
On November 8, 2011 the multiple Bills comprising the Clean Energy legislative
package were passed into law by the Australian Senate. From July 1,2012 the package
will force about 500 of the country’s biggest polluters to pay a levy of
AUD23 (USD23) for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit.
The aim of the new "carbon tax" is to reduce pollution by at least
160m tonnes a year by 2020 by putting a price on pollution, fostering renewable
energy technologies, encouraging energy efficiency and creating opportunities
to reduce pollution on the land. Treasury modelling shows the Gillard Government's
carbon price will reduce emissions and drive investment in clean energy while
ensuring the economy continues to prosper, with 1.6 million jobs to be created
by 2020.
The carbon price will rise at a 2.5% real rate per year before moving to a
market-driven price after three years. Businesses with individual plants emitting
more than 25,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year will need to buy and surrender
to the government a permit for every tonne of pollution they produce.
The Minister for Climate Change Greg Combet claimed that carbon pricing is
a charge on pollution, not a tax on households or small businesses. However
as polluters can pass on the increased costs in the form of price rises, many
critics of the carbon tax point out that it is the consumer who will foot the
final bill. The government's own estimates predict an increase of around 10%
in energy bills for households. In order to soften the impact of price rises
the government is increasing the income tax-free threshold from AUD6,000 to
AUD18,000, and also increasing certain welfare payments.
Concern regarding the carbon tax has been expressed by Australian business
groups, both large and small. They believe that their profitability will be
squeezed from three sides: an increase in costs passed down the supply chain;
a reduction of competitiveness against foreign imports; and a withering of consumers'
disposable income. The Business Council of Australia have also publicly stated
their misgivings over the optimistic nature of the Treasury forecasts, especially
given the increased uncertainty in the global economy, and its effect on Australia's
resource-based economy.
In addition concern has also been expressed from many quarters that the introduction
of the levy will lead to unrelated price increases. The government has attempted
to counter this concern by providing the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission with approximately AUD13m of extra funding to investigate suspected
opportunistic increases, a sum that represents 0.14% of the AUD9.2bn worth of
free permits to be handed out to trade exposed industries.
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