United Future

Agree that the plight of households needs to be considered. Reducing tax on income would be a good start. However, Climate Change is a real issue that must be addressed in an effective manner. If the government's ETS is not the right solution then other parties need to articulate a positive and effective solution. In my view policies that just mimick the Bush Administration (or the former Australian government) do not go far enough towards tackling this problem. We owe it to the next generation to grasp the nettle now and if we happen to be global leaders because of the way we deal practically with this problem then well and good.

We have long favoured ETS type solutions - indeed, I first advocated an ETS regime when Associate Environment Minister in 1990! But we are concerned at the possible adverse impact on household budgets, which if not properly compensated for, runs the risk of causing a political backlash that makes the ETS scheme ultimately unsustainable. I warned about this when the legislation was introduced last December. At that time, the government gave all sorts of assurances about compensation to households, but has been winding back on these ever since, to the extent that it now seems that only "vulnerable" households will be compensated, and even then only for rising electricity costs, not fuel or foodstuffs. To me, that makes a public backlash and a consequent revisiting of the whole ETS inevitable, thus bringing about more delay and uncertainty in terms of meeting our Kyoto commitments. I am wary of supporting a flawed ETS at this stage, if the only certainty is that it will have to be revisited and modified in the future. Far better, in my view, to take the time now to get it right, so that when it is implemented it is credible and durable.