Joint Letter to Federal Members of Parliament Regarding the Need for Safeguards to be Included in the Clean Energy Future Legislation
14 October 2011
The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) have written to all members of the Australian Parliament urging them to act in Australia’s long-term economic interest and amend the Clean Energy Future legislation to include essential safeguards to protect Australia’s competitiveness.
Without those safeguards, the legislation will create risks to Australia’s competitiveness, making it a flawed approach to putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions.
Ai Group and the BCA have worked with both Coalition and Labor governments in an effort to ensure Australia’s policy response to the risks associated with climate change is workable, fiscally responsible and does not make Australian industries uncompetitive if competitor nations do not take equivalent actions.
Our principles are that emissions reduction should be achieved at least cost, while preserving competitiveness and providing a strong basis for future investment.
Both groups have advocated for a multifaceted approach to emissions reduction where Australia acts in tandem with other nations and which includes an internationally linkable market-based emissions trading scheme with broad coverage, research and development in lower-emissions technologies and a focus on how Australia adapts to the impacts of climate change.