It didn't take long, however, for the fossil fuel industry to take up arms against the proposal. ( AP: Ben Margot/File)īack then, they argued that a tax on carbon emissions from all sources was the most efficient way to deal with the problem and, for a while, Washington was in agreement. The fossil fuel industry railed against the proposal of a carbon tax in the US. Many decisions in our life come down to price.Įven when money isn't involved, we often calculate whether the benefits of embarking on a certain course of action outweigh the potential costs. Unless prices rise dramatically, there is little likelihood of any shift in behaviour or impact on emissions and the fear is that the entire strategy is little more than an artifice. Not only that, big energy users like steel are excluded. Its national carbon market has far too many credits, so its carbon price is way too low - around one 10th the EU carbon price. Oddly, despite the rapid deterioration in relations between Canberra and Beijing, our largest trading partner may end up as one of our biggest allies in this brewing storm.įor while Beijing just last Friday launched the world's largest carbon market, many believe that at best it will be ineffective and, at worst, a sham. It was recognised then that corporations may simply shift production offshore to avoid the impost. The only problem with that argument is that Australia explored the very same option back in 2012 during the carbon tax's brief life.
#Carbon tax free#
"Australia is very concerned that the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is just a new form of protectionism that will undermine global free trade and impact Australian exporters and jobs," he said. One minute, the European Union was announcing its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the next, the United States began making similar noises. It's all happened within the space of a few weeks. So, to level the field, goods from any country without a carbon price, such as Australia, will be hit with a carbon tax. They've also woken to the idea that there's no point introducing a carbon price at home if renegades like Australia don't follow suit. It's a development that will hurt profits, cost jobs, and hit our export volumes and ultimately the tax take of our own government.Įn masse, much of the developed world has begun mulling the idea of putting a price on carbon emissions. In the third turn of the wheel, Australian polluters will end up paying foreign taxpayers just for the privilege of exporting their goods. Not by Canberra, but by Brussels and Washington with the increasing possibility that Ottawa, Tokyo and even London may follow suit, free trade agreements aside. Introduced in 2012 by the Gillard government, it was dumped by the Abbott government as soon as it came to power and replaced with a more than $3 billion taxpayer subsidy, doled out to applicants that promised to cut carbon emissions.īut the joke now is on us and the tragedy is that it will cost us dearly.Īustralian businesses are about to be whacked with a carbon tax.
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