USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Home / World

    Australian PM looks to change carbon tax

    By Agencies in Sydney and Canberra | China Daily | Updated: 2013-07-17 07:50

    Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday that a deeply unpopular carbon tax will be replaced by a less severe emissions trading scheme a year ahead of schedule, in a bid to lower power bills for households as a tight national election looms.

    The carbon tax on Australia's worst industrial polluters, including its coal-reliant power producers, went into effect in July 2012 and was supposed to remain in place until 2015. At that point, it was set to be replaced by an emissions trading scheme, in which the cost of emitting a ton of carbon would be determined by buyers and sellers in a carbon market.

    Rudd is advancing that timeline by a year, with the emissions trading scheme now beginning on July 1, 2014. The move will reduce the cost of carbon from a predicted A$25.40 ($22.42) per ton in July next year to an estimated A$6 per ton, Rudd said.

    "The government has decided to terminate the carbon tax to help cost of living pressures for families and to reduce costs for small businesses. This is the fiscally responsible thing to do," Rudd told reporters in the northern city of Townsville.

    "The nation's 370 biggest polluters will continue to pay for their carbon pollution, but the cost will be reduced, meaning less pressure on consumers.

    The move is expected to save Australian households an average of A$380 a year, Rudd said. The savings would largely be in the form of lower energy bills.

    The government will cover a predicted $3.8 billion shortfall in the federal budget with spending cuts, including scaling back funding for some environmental programs.

    The carbon tax was enacted under the previous prime minister, Julia Gillard, who was ousted by Rudd last month in an internal Labor Party coup. Rudd had been ousted as prime minister by Gillard in her own internal coup three years earlier.

    Under Gillard, Labor looked set for an overwhelming defeat in this year's elections. But recent polls suggest the race has tightened since Rudd took back the reins. Gillard had set elections for Sept 14, though Rudd can hold them between August and November. He has refused to publicly announce a date, though said "there's not going to be a huge variation" from Sept 14.

    Gillard pushed through the carbon tax in a bid to gain needed support from the minor Greens party, despite a campaign promise not to do so. The government defended the move as a necessary weapon against climate change. Australia is one of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita because of its heavy reliance on massive coal reserves to generate electricity.

    But the backlash from the public was intense, with some dubbing Gillard "Ju-liar". Conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott has repeatedly hammered Labor over the tax, using it to paint the ruling party as untrustworthy.

    On Tuesday, Abbott criticized Rudd for saying the government was terminating the tax. "All he's done is simply brought forward Julia Gillard's carbon tax changes by 12 months. He's not the terminator - he's the exaggerator. He's not the terminator, he's the fabricator," Abbott said.

    "He's changed its name, but he hasn't abolished the tax. All he's done is given Australians one year only of very modest relief."

    AP-AFP-Reuters

    (China Daily 07/17/2013 page11)

    Today's Top News

    Editor's picks

    Most Viewed

    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    精品深夜AV无码一区二区| 国产精品午夜福利在线无码| 国产福利电影一区二区三区久久老子无码午夜伦不 | 中文字幕乱码久久午夜| 性无码专区无码片| 中文字幕一二区| 中文字幕在线无码一区| 久久久久亚洲精品无码蜜桃| 区三区激情福利综合中文字幕在线一区亚洲视频1 | 日韩精品人妻系列无码专区| 天堂а√在线地址中文在线| 中文字幕理伦午夜福利片| 色窝窝无码一区二区三区| 中文字幕无码久久人妻| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕久久| 丰满岳乱妇在线观看中字无码| 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线咪咕| 最近中文字幕视频在线资源| 一区二区三区无码高清视频| 日韩av片无码一区二区三区不卡| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕久久 | 人妻精品久久久久中文字幕 | 最近中文字幕高清免费中文字幕mv| 日无码在线观看| 国产精品无码一区二区三区电影| 中文字幕无码人妻AAA片| 国产成人无码区免费网站| 天堂а√在线地址中文在线 | 亚洲欧美成人久久综合中文网 | 日韩国产中文字幕| 色噜噜亚洲精品中文字幕| 中文字幕在线观看有码| 亚洲国产精品无码久久久久久曰| 国产成人无码a区在线视频| 无码国产精品一区二区免费模式 | 国产成人精品无码一区二区三区| 久久久久av无码免费网| 国产成人综合日韩精品无码不卡 | 亚洲国产精品无码中文字| 亚洲熟妇无码乱子AV电影| 亚洲av无码乱码国产精品|