Antinuclear

Julia Gillard playing it smart with carbon tax

This time, Julia Gillard is playing a cannier game. There were almost no policy details released yesterday beyond the decision to implement a fixed price, and the decision to include transport but to leave out agriculture. That left little for industry critics to go on, and allowed Gillard to cleverly foreshadow Abbott’s anti-tax attack.

It’s Getting Hot In Here | newmatilda.com, 25 Feb 2011, By Ben Eltham Whether you call it a carbon tax or a carbon price, the carbon wars are back on. This time round, Gillard is playing it smart on climate policy.

Yesterday, Julia Gillard announced that the Government will move to introduce a price on carbon in mid-2012. Flanked by Climate Minister Greg Combet, cross-benchers Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, and Greens Senators Bob Brown and Christine Milne, the PM calmly explained the details: an introductory fixed-price period for three to five years, followed by a smooth transition to a floating carbon market, regulated by the government through carbon permits.

………This time, Julia Gillard is playing a cannier game. There were almost no policy details released yesterday beyond the decision to implement a fixed price, and the decision to include transport but to leave out agriculture. That left little for industry critics to go on, and allowed Gillard to cleverly foreshadow Abbott’s anti-tax attack.

The intensity of the Coalition’s attack in Question Time yesterday clearly shows they will fight this policy to the death. Industry groups, the conservative media and various other rentseekers and lobbyists can be expected to join the crusade. But we knew all this already. The litmus test will be whether Gillard has the policy nous to tailor a deal acceptable to at least some of the big polluters, and the tenacity to stare the rest down.

This won’t be easy, but it may not be as politically poisonous as some think. After the debacle of the CPRS, a simpler and broader scheme may be enough to win over environmentalists and the independents. While the Greens will drive a hard bargain with their numbers in the Senate, they also face some political imperatives of their own. In the end, the Greens probably have to vote for a second go at a carbon price — being seen to vote against it twice is too big a risk.  A new and simpler policy should also be easier to explain to voters,

It’s Getting Hot In Here | newmatilda.com

February 25, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics | climate change - global warming