The Business Council of Australia is calling on the federal parliament to carefully and comprehensively review the risks associated with the government’s Clean Energy Future legislation, which have been raised repeatedly by the BCA and other business groups.

The BCA’s Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott said that, having assessed these risks, the parliament must consider essential safeguards recommended by the BCA in its submission on the exposure draft legislation.

“On preliminary reading of the Bills, these safeguards do not appear to have been included in the legislation,” said Ms Westacott. “This means the legislation as drafted continues to represent considerable risk to Australia’s future competitiveness.

“The BCA will carefully consider the details of the legislation before making a further submission to the parliamentary committee detailing the economic risks posed by the government’s package.

“There remains a fundamental need for safeguards that allow future adjustments to take account of the economic situation, progress in developing new technologies and actions being taken by competitor countries.”