The Federal Government has announced that the carbon price scheme will begin on 1 July 2012, subject to the passage of legislation to be introduced in the Spring sittings of Parliament.

 

The framework for the carbon price was released on February 24 this year, seting out the carbon price design;  the level of the starting carbon price; an  assistance package to help households meet rising costs of living; Assistance to support jobs and assist industry make the transition to a clean energy future; The treatment of the electricity generation sector; Benefits and opportunities for pollution reductions in the land sector; and Programs to tackle climate change and move Australia to a clean energy future.

 

The Government also initiated at that time the review  by Professor Ross Garnaut of his 2008 Climate Change Review, and a review by the Productivity Commission  of the effective carbon price, both due for completion by the end of May.

 

Treasury will new begin its modeling process which will feed into final decisions about the detailed design of the scheme. Two roundtables, the Business Roundtable and the NGO Roundtable, set up to  engage the business community, NGOs, environment groups and the unions, will continue to have input into the development of a carbon price.

 

Two sub-group are to be formed to the Business Roundtable. The first group will be the Industry Transitional Assistance Working Group which will provide industry feedback on appropriate transitional arrangements for emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries and the unique circumstances faced by industries such as the liquefied natural gas and coal industries.

The second group will be the Energy Sector Working Group which will look at the treatment of electricity generation sector in order to protect our energy security.

 

A new sub-group will also be formed for the NGO Roundtable. This will be the Household Assistance Working Group which will examine the likely impacts of a carbon price and the appropriate assistance to be provided.

 

Finally, a separate Land Sector Working Group will be formed which will focus on the benefits and opportunities for the land sector under a carbon price.

 

Membership of these new groups is yet to be announced. 

 

In addition, the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is forming an Industry and NGO Liaison Group to keep peak bodies informed of carbon pricing developments and to provide an avenue through which stakeholders can exchange their views on technical matters regarding the carbon price mechanism. More information is at http://www.climatechange.gov.au/

 

Meanwhile, the Climate Commission, headed by Professor Tim Flannery, is holding  a series of public forums across Australia in the coming months, the first of which was held in Geelong last Friday. More information is at http://climatecommission.gov.au