This is either a bribe or the fairest way to clean air
letter published in The Australian, 19 March 2011
SID Maher says Julia Gillard has been "challenged" by Ross Garnaut's proposal to effect large tax cuts to compensate against costs imposed by the mooted carbon price.
A more accurate assessment might be that Garnaut is proposing a bribe of tax cuts so that Gillard can "sell" the carbon price scheme.
If the government imposes a tax on carbon emissions and then uses the revenue to compensate households and businesses for the costs, what reduction in emissions is likely to occur? [No estimate has been revealed by Canberra but one suspects it would be quite small. The reality is that under Gillard Australians face the prospect of a tax to fund tax relief with little reduction in carbon emissions.] (Square brackets omitted by Ed)
Des Moore, Director, Institute for Private Enterprise, South Yarra, Vic