Opposition climate action spokesman Greg Hunt says the Coalition is in “complete agreement” with the government on the science of climate change and Australia’s emissions reduction targets. The Coalition also agrees with the government that it is a global issue. “We’re not opposing those they were fundamental to me in taking on this job. I’m not going to argue or debate those. I’m passionate about the need for action. The question then is the right form of action.”
He raised the idea of offering people incentives to cut emissions and disincentives to increase them. He has been honing his arguments for why this direct-action policy is a cheaper more efficient alternative.
He says the corporate community is quite rapidly coming to the Coalition.
He argues about the abatement price claiming Labor’s ETS is a higher-cost greenhouse emissions reduction scheme than a direct-action approach.
Next he argues around what it means for low and middle income families in terms of electricity prices.
Next is a proposal in terms of constructive international engagment.
Hunt argues annual electricity prices would rise $300 in the ETS’s first year as could petrol prices.
He says it is about buying abatement at the lowest cost. He argues that the best system in Australia at the moment is the NSW government’s greenhouse gas abatement scheme which is producing carbon abatements at about $7.50 a tonne. The commonwealth’s greenhouse gas abatement scheme is also purchasing carbon at about $7 a tonne which he says makes the Coalition’s buy-back price of about double that very conservative. He is talking buying carbon back at $15 a tonne because it would be buying from willing sellers in the same way the water buyback scheme works.
Essentially in order to get the modest amount of reductions you can either target and buy back those reductions or you can tax the whole economy.