Coal industry given concessions under ETS deal

24 Nov 2009, 12:30 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The ETS deal was struck between coalition frontbencher Ian Macfarlane and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, and provides more concessions to the coal, electricity supply and LNG sectors. (AAP)

The ETS deal was struck between coalition frontbencher Ian Macfarlane and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, and provides more concessions to the coal, electricity supply and LNG sectors. (AAP)

The federal government will provide more concessions to the coal, electricity supply and LNG sectors as part of a negotiated offer it has put to the opposition on emissions trading.

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The federal government will provide more concessions to the coal, electricity supply and LNG sectors as part of a negotiated offer it has put to the opposition on emissions trading.

The government has approved amendments to its carbon pollution reduction scheme, which are now being debated by the coalition party room.

The government has conceded ground to the coal industry in order to get the deal through. The coalition party room is still considering whether or not to support the amendments, which were rubber stamped by shadow cabinet early on Tuesday morning.

The meeting, which began at 10am (AEDT), could last for as long as four hours.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra, was short on specific details about additional assistance for industry. Assistance to the electricity sector would be increased, she said.

A program of offsets will also be offered to farmers who make efforts to reduce carbon pollution.

"This is a comprehensive government deal," she said.

Households would be given the opportunity to play a direct role in tackling climate change. "We will ensure that voluntary action ... will matter and will be counted under the scheme."

Mr Rudd said average assistance of 120 per cent to low-income families remained in place.

"We don't intend with our families and in particular low-income families to shoulder the pain of the adjustment," he said. "This has to be done equitably across the entire economy."

The adjustments were necessary to get people across "the hump" into the new scheme.

"We believe we have got that balance right". Mr Rudd asked the opposition to take into account a number of issues before arriving at a decision on the amendments.

"Australia is one of the hottest and driest continents on earth ... Australia will be hit hardest and fastest by climate change." That meant the only option was to vote for action on climate change, he said.

"Failing to act today is the riskiest course of action available to the parliament," Mr Rudd said.

"Failing to act today is to roll the dice on our children's future. "As prime minister of Australia, I will not take that risk with the future." Mr Rudd said his request to all members of parliament was simple: "Act in the national interest, not in your party's interest."

Mr Rudd implored opposition senators to listen to their better angels.

"I return to the appeal I have made in recent days and that is for people of goodwill within the Liberal Party to get behind this path forward."

He was quick to admit the fight against climate change was far from over and said the upcoming United Nations summit in Copenhagen was vital. Senator Wong said the extra assistance to electricity suppliers was not designed to keep a lid on prices.

"It's never been suggested by them or anybody else that would reduce the impact on electricity prices."

She denied the changes proved industry deserved greater compensation than the government had initially allowed.

"When you're in a negotiation, there's necessarily give and take," she said.

The scheme had stayed true to its objectives, Senator Wong said. "We have sought to put in changes which ensure and improve environmental incomes."

Changes to the scheme were always going to be considered until the last minute, Mr Rudd said. "As far as the coal elements are concerned, we've been looking at permutations of combinations on that until very, very recently," Mr Rudd said.

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Your Comments

Conceding to the coal industry?

Brendon Pywell - from Sydney, 3 years ago

Why concede anything to the coal industry? We should act to benefit non-polluting energy providers rather than subsidizing polluting ones. If you add the cost to remove the Carbon out of the atmosphere to the price of coal generated electricity, the other methods of energy production suddenly become a lot more competitive. Electricity will be more expensive than it is now, but that’s only because we’re currently pushing the cost onto future generations (assuming they get a chance to live).

Groupthink nonsense

Bryan - from Palm Beach, 3 years ago

This ETS nonsense will not make one iota of difference to carbon emissions globally. The rubbish that humans can produce, under the spell of group-think, is astounding.

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