BUSINESS WARNING ON ABBOTT'S CLIMATE CON.

Media release.

Mark Butler MP.

Date:  25 November 2013

Australian businesses have expressed alarm at Tony Abbott’s climate policy, questioning whether it will actually work and calling for more consultation and more certainty.

In a submission to the Government, the Australian Industry Group (AIG) said “there is a risk that the Emissions Reduction Fund does not deliver the abatement outcomes sought,” and that, “there is no equivalent to an emissions cap or other legal guarantee that the targets will be met.”

The AIG called on the Government to adopt a market mechanism, identifying it as the cheapest and most efficient way to drive down carbon pollution. The group said, “bureaucratic or political decision making are usually poor substitutes for the judgments of market actors responding to price in light of their own circumstances.”

The AIG also called on the Coalition to ensure Australia’s carbon pollution reduction effort is in line with other major economies, stating that consistent global action is fundamental to preserving Australian competitiveness.

Emissions trading schemes are already in place in the UK, Germany, France, Korea, and parts of Canada and the United States.

“Tony Abbott needs to come clean on his climate con and explain why he’s pursuing an approach that won’t reduce carbon pollution, but will cost business and households more,” Shadow Minister for Climate Change Mark Butler said."

“There is not one credible economist or expert who thinks Direct Action will work. Economists and climate scientists across the world are all agreed that an emissions trading scheme – a market-based mechanism with a legal cap on carbon pollution – is the cheapest and most effective way to reduce pollution and provide certainty for business."

“Now we see that the Ai Group, which represents more than 60,000 Australian businesses, is also wary of the cost impact of Tony Abbott’s climate con."

“Last week, Alan Kohler told us that Treasury had estimated the cost of Direct Action as costing the taxpayer $10 billion a year!"

“And today, we hear that just 12 per cent of Australian voters believe that Tony Abbott’s dud policy of paying polluters with taxpayer’s money will work.

“Tony Abbott’s policy has been exposed as a complete con.

“This is not the government they told Australian businesses and families they would be.”