LONDON: In an effort to crackdown on carbon emissions in the country, Australia has unveiled its most ambitious economic reform plan in decades with a plan to tax carbon emissions of the worst polluters. It has kindled new hopes that Australia will push toward stronger climate action. According to government reports, 500 companies including steel and aluminum manufacturers would pay a fee of $24.70 per ton for a carbon tax beginning next year, and this would rise some 2.5 percent annually in an effort to cut carbon emissions in the country. “It's time to get on with this, we are going to get this done,” said Gillard after a bruising battle to win political support for the scheme, which has polarized voters and business. A parliamentary vote on the new measures is expected before the end of the year. Australia is the developed world's worst per-capita greenhouse gas emitter because of its heavy reliance on cheap coal for power generation. Emissions are set to rise in the booming economy without a carbon cost, the government says. The stakes are high for Gillard's Labor party, which relies on the support of Greens and independents for a one-seat lower house majority. Her popularity has slumped to record lows over the scheme. With the details now finally released after months of waiting, Gillard will now try to convince voters opposed to the plan ahead of a parliamentary vote, trying to deflect a campaign against it by the hardest hit businesses. “It is absolutely critical that the government sells this very effectively,” said Tony Wood, director of the energy program at the Grattan Institute, a policy think tank, in comments published by Reuters news agency. Australian retail and clean-energy stocks were expected to be among the winners, and airlines and miners among the plan's losers, but analysts said financial markets overall were tipped to take the policy in their stride. The effort aims to cut national emissions by five percent of 2000 levels by 2020, which would mean a cut of about 160 million tonnes. BM
