A Coalition Government will take direct action to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by five percent by 2020.
This can be achieved without Kevin Rudd’s great big tax on everything that will increase the costs of living for Australian families, penalise Australian businesses and destroy jobs.
The Coalition’s climate action policy provides incentives for Australian families and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions and focuses on meaningful, effective and direct action to improve Australia’s environment.
Our incentive-based approach provides practical and affordable environmental benefits as well as reducing carbon emissions.
Australia’s environment policies should encompass more than dealing with global climate change issues. The Coalition’s policy will reduce emissions as well as address some of Australia’s serious environmental problems.
Unlike the Government’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), we are not introducing a great big new tax on all Australians. In fact, this policy will not be funded through any new taxes or increased taxes and it will protect Australian jobs.
Over the forward estimates, the Coalition’s policy will cost $3.2 billion. In the comparable period, the Government’s ETS will cost $40 billion.
In contrast to the Government’s approach, the Coalition’s policy includes using our comparative advantages as a nation: soil and sun – both of which we have in abundance.
The Coalition’s direct action plan is careful, costed and capped – reducing emissions without a tax on everything.
Emissions Reduction Fund
The Coalition will establish an emissions reduction fund to provide direct incentives to industry and farmers to reduce CO2 emissions.
Businesses that reduce emissions below their baseline or ‘business as usual’ activity will be able to sell their CO2 abatement to the government. This will provide a direct financial incentive for firms to take action to reduce emissions below baseline levels.
Businesses that emit above their ‘business as usual’ levels will incur a financial penalty.
By directly supporting action to reduce emissions, the Fund will ensure that every dollar of expenditure goes towards actually reducing CO2 emissions rather than a complex churn of money and new bureaucratic activity.
Unlike Labor’s ETS, Australian industries will not have to pay the government billions of dollars each year in order to continue to operate at business as usual levels.
By providing incentives, rather than imposing massive balance sheet liabilities, the capital will be available for businesses to invest in emissions reduction technology.
The Fund will use the existing National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS) to determine the abatement achieved by individual businesses. An expert body will be established to assess tenders and make recommendations on activities to be supported by the Fund.
The Fund will commence operation in 2011-12 with an initial allocation of $300 million, $500 million in 2012-13, $750 million in 2013-14 and growing to $1 billion in 2014-15.
This is a significant investment in direct action that will deliver the CO2 emissions reductions needed to reduce emissions by five percent by 2020.
Small businesses and other entities not covered by NGERS will be able to participate on an opt-in basis.
Through the Fund, a Coalition Government provides potential incentives for Australia’s oldest and most inefficient power stations to reduce emissions. The Coalition will also provide $60 million to develop the La Trobe Valley, Hunter and Central Queensland regions as Clean Energy Employment Hubs.
The Emissions Reduction Fund will also consider tenders for projects that will reduce CO2 emissions such as through forestry abatement, utilising waste coal mine gas for electricity generation, energy efficient building projects, innovative landfill management, composting and recycling.
Soil Carbon – A Once in a Century Replenishment of our Soils
The single largest opportunity for CO2 emissions reduction in Australia is through bio-sequestration and the replenishment of soil carbon in particular. Significantly increasing soil carbon levels also boosts agricultural productivity and water efficiency.
The Coalition will use the Emissions Reduction Fund to deliver about 85 million tonnes per annum of CO2 abatement through soil carbons by 2020 with an initial purchase of 10 million tonnes of abatement through soil carbons by 2012-13.
A New Solar Sunrise for Australia
The Coalition will introduce a range of measures to support the increased uptake and use of renewable energy in homes and communities.
The Coalition will provide a $1,000 rebate for either solar panels or solar hot water systems, capped at 100,000 rebates per year, with the goal of achieving one million additional solar energy roofs on homes by 2020. This will be in addition to existing rebates, and will provide an additional CO2 emissions reduction of 2.4 – 3 million tonnes a year by 2020.
The Coalition will also allocate $100 million to a Solar Towns and Solar Schools Initiative which will provide grants for towns, non-capital cities and schools to access direct solar energy for onsite use and return to the power grid.
We will allocate $50 million to a Geothermal and Tidal Towns Initiative and $2 million will be devoted to a major study into the use of underground electricity transmission and the potential land recovery from the conversion of overhead powerline corridors to urban parklands and inner suburban housing.
Green Corridors and other measures
The Coalition commits to the planting of an additional 20 million trees by 2020 to re-establish urban forests and green corridors.
To support the development of larger scale renewable energy generation, a proportion of incentives provided through the Renewable Energy Target will be reserved for bigger projects and emerging technologies.
The Coalition will also allocate up to $5 million for research into algal synthesis and retain the Greenhouse Friendly programme.