Decisions made in the European Union will now have a direct impact on the rate of Australia’s carbon tax, as a result of the linkage announced by the Gillard Government this week.
Business and economic leaders have today confirmed that the linkage means decisions made in Europe will impact how much more households and businesses pay in Australia.
If Europe makes its emissions reductions targets higher, Australia’s carbon tax will go up. If Europe reduces the availability of EU ETS permits, Australia’s carbon tax will go up.
The Gillard Government has effectively outsourced responsibility for setting the rate of their carbon tax, meaning decisions taken in Brussels will impact on how much we pay for electricity in Australia.
Australian business and economic leaders have confirmed these risks:
“If we go with Europe, politicians in Europe can determine the price of carbon in Australia and we are handing over control of the competitiveness of our economy to bureaucrats … in Europe.”
Mr John Hannagan, Chairman, RUSAL Australia, The Australian, 30 August 2012
“At a time when Europe’s economic judgement is widely questioned, the federal government gives up the right to determine its own carbon price and gives that right to Europe.”
Professor Warwick McKibbin, Director, Research School of Economics, Australian National University, The Australian Financial Review, 30 August 2012
With the Australian Greens predicting Europe could push its price and therefore Australia’s to $50 per tonne by 2015, which is nearly double that forecast by Labor, Australians should rightly be concerned about how much more they’ll pay due to Labor’s outsourcing of Australia’s carbon tax rates.