70 of Australia’s leading scientists have signed an open letter calling on the Australian Government to implement a 25 per cent tax on gas exports. The tax, suggested by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, could raise $17 billion annually, money scientists argue would help make Australia a scientific powerhouse again.
The Safeguard Mechanism lets around 200 of the country's biggest polluters buy unlimited carbon credits to use as so-called offsets instead of cutting their own emissions at the source. It is the single largest source of demand for the kind of credits now at the centre of the Great Koala National Park fight, and that is no coincidence.
Politicians who are concerned about greenwashing and due process have the power to stop the dodgy national parks deal later this month, but only if a range of senators vote together. Luckily for those opposed to the creation of even more carbon offsets, the Senate has a long tradition of unlikely senators coming together to agree that a minister’s latest idea is a bad one.
