07-19-2014, 11:30 AM
Australia Ditches Environmental Carbon Protection Initiative
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative coalition government rose to power last year on the promise of getting rid of the tax, assuring voters that removing it would reduce household electricity bills. He plans to replace the measure with a taxpayer-financed AU$2.55 billion fund to pay industry incentives to use cleaner energy.
Abbott: "Today, the tax that you voted to get rid of is finally gone: a useless, destructive tax which damaged jobs, which hurt families' cost of living and which didn't actually help the environment."
Australia is one of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita, largely because of its heavy reliance on the nation's vast reserves of cheap coal for electricity.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten lashed out at Abbott after the vote, dubbing him an "environmental vandal."
"Today, Tony Abbott has made Australia the first country in the world to reverse action on climate change," Shorten told reporters. "History will judge Tony Abbott very harshly for refusing to believe in genuine action on climate change. Tony Abbott is sleepwalking Australia to an environmental and economic disaster."
Big businesses and industry groups across Australia rallied behind the tax's abolition, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which dubbed the levy a dead weight on the economy.
"It really did impact on the competitiveness of many Australian businesses and of course it put up the price of power," the group's CEO Kate Carnell said. "So it's a good step forward for competitiveness and also for employment in Australia."
In a fiery speech ahead of Thursday's vote, Sen. Christine Milne, leader of the Greens, called it an "appalling day for Australia." "A vote for the abolition of the clean energy package is a vote for failure," she said. "If this parliament votes to abandon the clean energy package, you are voting against the best interests of the nation."
Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17...ostpopular
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative coalition government rose to power last year on the promise of getting rid of the tax, assuring voters that removing it would reduce household electricity bills. He plans to replace the measure with a taxpayer-financed AU$2.55 billion fund to pay industry incentives to use cleaner energy.
Abbott: "Today, the tax that you voted to get rid of is finally gone: a useless, destructive tax which damaged jobs, which hurt families' cost of living and which didn't actually help the environment."
Australia is one of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita, largely because of its heavy reliance on the nation's vast reserves of cheap coal for electricity.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten lashed out at Abbott after the vote, dubbing him an "environmental vandal."
"Today, Tony Abbott has made Australia the first country in the world to reverse action on climate change," Shorten told reporters. "History will judge Tony Abbott very harshly for refusing to believe in genuine action on climate change. Tony Abbott is sleepwalking Australia to an environmental and economic disaster."
Big businesses and industry groups across Australia rallied behind the tax's abolition, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which dubbed the levy a dead weight on the economy.
"It really did impact on the competitiveness of many Australian businesses and of course it put up the price of power," the group's CEO Kate Carnell said. "So it's a good step forward for competitiveness and also for employment in Australia."
In a fiery speech ahead of Thursday's vote, Sen. Christine Milne, leader of the Greens, called it an "appalling day for Australia." "A vote for the abolition of the clean energy package is a vote for failure," she said. "If this parliament votes to abandon the clean energy package, you are voting against the best interests of the nation."
Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17...ostpopular