“Today’s BCA study highlights the dangerous impact of Rudd’s Emission Trading Scheme. It would be reckless in the extreme to impose this on the Australian economy,” said Senator Ron Boswell today. “The Business Council of Australia study found that:- • Half the businesses will see their returns drop below acceptable levels • Some trade exposed emission intensive industries will close, others will wind back • There will be a large reduction in new investment that would otherwise have occurred • Australia will lower its emissions in large part by exporting them to other countries – we will simply import our growing needs rather than meet them locally • Australia will suffer considerable economic pain for no global environmental gain • The government’s Green Paper compensation scheme is inadequate and contains significant anomalies • The Green Paper approach will strongly limit future trade exposed emission intensive investment • The electricity sector requires a near doubling of spend on new generation and transmission lines to $4bn pa • Gas use for electricity must approximately triple, requiring significant development of undeveloped and, as yet, undefined Bass Strait Reserves • It is highly likely that brown and black coal electricity generation facilities will have to be rapidly revalued and written down There is a severe risk of increased electricity supply interruptions.” “Australia’s economic comparative advantage is built on commodity based emissions intensive industries that are often greener than our overseas competitors. Damaging our major industries and sending them offshore only leaves Australia worse off economically and the world worse off environmentally.” Senator Boswell also warned that Australia should be very careful about becoming partners with New Zealand in an emissions scheme as recently canvassed by Prime Minister Rudd. “New Zealand, as I understand it, already has a carbon market relationship with Europe. If Australia joined up with New Zealand we could be prematurely brought into the European market through arbitrage and we would be swamped by what happens there because it is so large and beyond our control.” ENDS

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