Carbon pricing in Australia

* per tonne of emitted CO2 A carbon pricing scheme in Australia was introduced by the Gillard Labor minority government in 2011 as the Clean Energy Act 2011 which came into effect on 1 July 2012.

[2] As a result of being in place for such a short time, and because the then Opposition leader Tony Abbott indicated he intended to repeal "the carbon tax", regulated organizations responded rather weakly, with very few investments in emissions reductions being made.

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency stated that in June 2013 only 260 entities were subject to the scheme,[6] of which approximately 185 were liable to pay for carbon units.

Domestic aviation did not face the carbon price scheme, but was subject to an additional fuel excise levy of approximately 6 cents per liter.

In February 2012, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Clean Energy Future carbon price scheme had not deterred new investment in the coal industry, as spending on exploration had increased by 62% in 2010–2011, more than any other mineral commodity.

[13] Source – Australia's National Greenhouse Inventory Dec 2012 Economy-wide pricing of carbon is the centre piece of any policy designed to reduce emissions at the lowest possible costs.

This report recommended a range of measures including ecotaxes to address the market failure represented by climate change with the least amount of economic and social disruption.

[18] Both the incumbent Howard government and the Rudd Labor opposition promised to implement an emissions trading scheme (ETS) before the 2007 federal election.

[19][20] Going into the 2007 federal election, the Labor opposition party presented itself as a "pro-climate" alternative to the Government, with Kevin Rudd, who had by then deposed Beazley as leader, famously describing climate change as "the great moral challenge of our generation".

[16] Labor won the election on 24 November 2007, and on 3 December 2007 the Rudd government signed the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol at the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The Opposition led by Brendan Nelson called for the vote on the government's ETS be delayed until after the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Industry and business lobby groups however argued for more permits and assistance to offset the economic impacts of the scheme on many enterprises, particularly during the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

[16][23] Shortly before the Senate was due to vote on the carbon bills, on 1 December 2009 Tony Abbott replaced Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party.

[25] The Coalition then withdrew their support for the carbon pricing policy and joined the Greens and Independents in voting against the relevant legislation in the Parliament of Australia on 2 December 2009.

[27] In April 2010, Rudd deferred attempts to advance the scheme to at least 2013,[28] opting not to present the legislation to the Senate a second time, creating a trigger for a double dissolution election.

Gillard honoured that agreement and on 27 September 2010 the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee (MPCCC) was formed, its terms of reference including that it was to report to Cabinet on ways to introduce a carbon price.

The carbon price was set at AUD$23 per tonne of emitted CO2-e on selected fossil fuels consumed by major industrial emitters and government bodies such as councils.

The 'Jobs and Competitiveness Program' was for the non-electricity sector and was targeted at the 'emissions-intensive trade-exposed' activities – that is, companies which emitted a lot of CO2 and were exposed to imports or who trade internationally.

[11][12] The Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA) said in June 2013 "we suggest that it cannot be said that pricing emissions has reduced emissions in stationary energy to any meaningful extent"[56] AGL – In relation to its purchase of the Loy Yang brown coal fired power station in 2012, one of the single largest emitters of CO2 in Australia states “On the supply side of the business, the most significant strategic development was the decision to buy the Loy Yang A power station. ...

The Board also recognised that coal fired generation would be required for decades to come if the demand from Australian households and businesses for electricity was to continue to be satisfied" [57] Adelaide Brighton (Australia’s second largest cement producer) “ – AdelaideBrighton expects it will significantly mitigate the impact of the carbon tax over the next five years by:· BlueScope (Australia's largest steelmaker) – "When funds from the Steel Transformation Plan are taken into account, the Company does not expect to face a net carbon liability over the period”.

[59] David Kassulke, the manager of AJ Bush & Sons, expressed grave concerns over the carbon tax during the lead up to its implementation.

[63][64] Then opposition leader Tony Abbott criticised the carbon pricing policy on economic grounds referring to it as "toxic" and likening it to an octopus embracing the whole of the economy.

[69] Tony Abbott's "Direct Action Plan" has been criticised because there is no disincentive to continue polluting at the same rate, meaning that emissions will increase rather than decrease by 2020.

It had funds to provide financial assistance to research, develop, demonstrate, deploy and commercialise renewable energy in Australia and related technologies.

[74] Research by Preston Teeter and Jorgen Sandberg at the University of Queensland revealed that liable organisations responded with very few investments in emissions reduction activities, largely due to the great deal of policy uncertainty surrounding the scheme.

[84] In May 2012, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported it was investigating about 100 cases where customers had possibly been misled into paying excessive price rises falsely claimed to be as a result of the carbon tax.

[86] The consumer watchdog also set up a phone hotline and online form for complaints regarding excess pricing claimed to be due to the carbon tax.

[88] Housing construction was expected to be significantly impacted by the carbon tax because new homes require cement, bricks, aluminium, and glass, which are all typically energy-intensive materials.

[81] The Institute of Public Affairs claimed that the Australian coal industry would lose jobs to overseas competitors and mines will be closed.

[106] Six months after the introduction of carbon pricing the Department of Climate Change and Renewable Energy reported a 9% decrease in emissions from electricity generators.