Page 1754 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 1 May 2012
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future costs on households. The economically and socially responsible position is to put in place mitigation and adaptation strategies, such as the carbon price, and to do so sooner rather than later.
That is why the ACT Labor government has supported the Australian government’s national price on carbon. Once a product or outcome is given a financial value, it then demands economic attention, and our society is largely driven by economic considerations. Pricing of commodity allows for people to judge relative values and act accordingly.
Placing a price on carbon is recognised internationally as an effective mechanism to reduce emissions. It is cost effective. The same cannot be said of other policy positions, including many of those put forward by the opposition federally and locally. Pricing carbon is the responsible choice for the Australian economy. It has the lowest cost, it fosters innovation and competitiveness, and it provides certainty around outcomes.
Locally, the government has indicated its position on the need to continue to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions generated by activity in the territory. In December we as an Assembly legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets for the territory, and those targets also included the objective of carbon neutrality for the territory.
A national carbon price will support the territory in meeting these targets by reducing the emissions intensity of the national electricity market from which we draw our power and making renewable energy and energy efficiency projects more cost effective. While the carbon price will not have a major impact between now and 2020, a carbon price is likely to drive investment in renewable energy technologies that will be essential for the ACT to become carbon neutral by 2060.
The government has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While the carbon price will assist the territory to meet the target, the territory has also outlined the need to implement other measures that will drive emissions reductions in the territory beyond the scope of the carbon price. It is worth noting that the development of a carbon price on its own will not tackle all of the issues that exist when it comes to emissions reduction, and so-called complementary measures will need to continue to be considered, measures such as energy efficiency requirements, which will not be driven by carbon price alone but can be achieved through statutory instruments such as those in the bill that is before the Assembly today.
The carbon pricing mechanism is designed to price the cost of pollution into goods and services in our economy. This provides consumers with an incentive to move to less carbon intensive goods and services and industry to invest for the first time in reducing their emissions. It is important to note that the money raised by selling carbon permits to industry will be used to compensate households as the economy makes the transition. For most households, especially low to middle income households, the costs of the scheme will be more than compensated for.
This compensation does not undermine a carbon price. Instead, it restores the buying power for households who will now have an additional incentive to purchase low
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