Announcing November 24 as election day, PM John Howard has promised a re-elected Coalition would deliver environment policies that “tackle in a balanced way the great challenges of climate change and water security”.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said a Labor Government would act “nationally and internationally decisively on climate change so that we do not destroy the economic and environmental future of the next generation of Australians”.
Climate change also features in election priority statements issued by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Industry Group.
National greenhouse and energy policies should not be “skewed to an environmental agenda that is often anti-business and detrimental to Australia’s future economic wellbeing”, warns ACCI’s statement on election priorities.
The statement adds that all technologies should be available for abatement, including nuclear.
Meanwhile, the Australian Industry Group says there is “no more important task” for the next federal government than “shaping Australia’s long-term response to climate change”.
“At stake is whether Australia develops an approach to climate change that is environmentally effective and responsible and that keeps both adverse impacts on our competitiveness and regulatory burdens to a minimum,” says its election priorities statement.
The centrepiece of Australia’s response should be an emissions trading scheme “accompanied by strong and effective measures to secure the competitive position of trade exposed industries”.
“There is considerable goodwill in the business community towards putting in place an effective response to climate change. A very close watch needs to be applied to climate change policy to ensure this goodwill is not diffused by a proliferation of populist measures that frequently do more harm than good.”
