Australian Coalition government introduces carbon tax repeal legislation to the Parliament

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, November 13, 2013
Adjust font size:

The Australian Coalition government has pushed the process of abolishing the carbon tax, introducing laws to the new federal parliament on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that he introduced the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 to the Parliament, marking his government's first major piece of legislation since winning the Sept. 7 election.

Abbott confirmed that it delivers on the Coalition government's commitment to the Australian people to "scrap this toxic tax".

"Repealing the carbon tax should be the first economic reform of this Parliament and it will be followed by further economic reforms: bills to repeal the mining tax, to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission and to deal with Labor's debt legacy," Abbott explained on Wednesday.

Abbott insisted the carbon tax made it harder for domestic businesses to compete at home and had harmed Australia's competitiveness abroad. And he promised families and pensioners would continue to receive the compensation and tax cuts associated with Labor's carbon pricing scheme, even though it would be gone.

According to the statement from him, the government insists electricity costs will fall by nine percent and gas prices by seven percent once the carbon tax is gone, providing the average household with an annual power bill saving of 550 AU dollars ( almost 512.92 U.S. dollars).

In addition, the statement also confirmed that the Abbott government will proceed with its Direct Action Plan for reducing the greenhouse gas emission.

According to the statement, the centerpiece of the Direct Action Plan will be the Emissions Reduction Fund - "a market-based mechanism for reducing carbon dioxide emissions; a fund which provides a powerful and direct additional incentive for businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions".

"Direct Action through the Fund means more trees, better soils and smarter technology and this is the right way to get emissions down," Abbott committed. Endi

Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter