Ross Garnaut handed down his final report on climate change to the government yesterday, noting that households would bear the brunt of the carbon price, although business were playing a “spoiler” role in fighting it.
Garnaut advocated for $6 billion worth of tax cuts to compensate low-to-middle-income households for the carbon price, while other measures and cuts were suggested to reimburse the cost of an emissions trading scheme to be implemented in the next decade.
He also called for an independent panel to decide Australia’s carbon-emissions cutting goal. The entire Garnaut report can be viewed here, and further outlines of all the measure proposed can be found here.
As Bernard Keane wrote in Crikey yesterday:
“Ross Garnaut has confronted Labor and the multiparty climate change committee with the reality of trying to do too many things with a limited pot of carbon price revenue, by proposing cuts to transfer payments from levels proposed under the CPRS and adjusting tax thresholds or taxation rates to ensure high income earners don’t benefit from the tax cuts he proposes.”
Here’s what the pundits are saying.
The Australian
Graham Lloyd: “Gospel according to Ross Garnaut“:
“For anyone with any doubts, the Kyoto climate change accord that caused so much anguish for the Australian and global political establishment is officially dead and buried.”
Peter van Onselen: “No pain, no gain: compensation ruins carbon tax”
“Anyone who thinks the proposed carbon tax is mainly about the environment is mistaken. That may have been where the debate started. But due to political pressure on the minority government, it has morphed into an exercise in wealth redistribution, not environmental action.”
Paul Kelly: “Clash of cultures, economics and ideology”
“The updated 2011 Garnaut report on climate change affirms that Australia is heading into an ideological and political conflict of rare intensity with Gillard Labor sure to embrace the justification for pricing carbon that Ross Garnaut outlines.”
George Megalogenis: Ross Garnaut puts Tony Abbott in a spot of bother
“Nevertheless, the Garnaut advice contains a policy trap for Labor. It connects the revenue from a price on carbon to the Henry review’s goal of increasing workforce participation. But increased workforce participation was meant to be the centrepiece of last month’s budget, as well as the proposed tax summit later in the year. What will Wayne Swan have to talk about at the summit if he takes up tax reform now?”
The Age
Tim Colebatch: “Garnaut’s cry from the heart for honesty”
“Garnaut’s report is a cry from the heart to Labor and the Coalition alike: don’t let this great country turn its back on the great challenge of our time.”
Tom Arup: “We’re not pissants: Garnaut”
“Ross Garnaut has used his climate change swansong to paint the political battle over a carbon tax as a fight between an old political culture of special interests and the national interest.”
West Australian
Andrew Probyn: “Garnaut paints Abbott plan into corner”
“Ross Garnaut may be primarily an economist but yesterday he proved he’s rather adept at that other inexact science, politics.”
Financial Review
Laura Tingle: “Business out in the cold”
“…the minority Gillard government has so far largely followed Garnaut’s script much more closely [than Rudd did]. This is a reflection of the crossbenches’ reliance on Garnaut and the fact that the government needed all the authority it could muster to justify another Gillard volte face on the issue. In a sea of political noise on the carbon price, this is what makes the Garnaut recommendations so important.”
Climate Spectator
Giles Parkinson: The devil in the climate detail
“Like many involved, Garnaut has found this “diabolical” policy dilemma to be a fascinating, stimulating, but ultimately exhausting process. … The government merely has to work up the courage to deliver a policy that, out of necessity, has to create some losers – high income earners, some trade-exposed industries, and equity holders in brown coal generators. Given the parameters of budget neutrality that it has set itself, it has no choice. “
Herald Sun
Terry McCrann: “Carbon fantasy a $30b-a-year reality”
“There’s an old joke that neurotics build castles in the air; psychotics move into them; and psychiatrists collect the rent. Yesterday we were told the rent: $11.5 billion a year rising to $30 billion or more a year. That would be the equivalent of a 50 per cent increase in the GST.
We were told, by the ‘neurotic’ in my little fable — Ross Garnaut who has charge of building the phantasmagorical carbon tax castle. We — all 22 million of us — would be the very dumb ‘psychotics’ if we ‘moved into it.'”
“Garnaut’s report is a cry from the heart to Labor and the Coalition alike: don’t let this great country turn its back on the great challenge of our time.”
That’s Colebatch in The Age.
Infantile nationalism. The final abdication of critical thought.
We saw the logical conclusion of political degeneration of the Left on Q and A this week: Guy Rundle, looking like something out of Lord of the Rings, squeakily announced that Carbon Salvation could be found only in…the Greens.
Inadvertently, climate millenarianism has revealed the terminal state of progressive politics.
I enjoyed the post this morning, Lets see how Garnaut and Gillard explain this.
The mean Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent for winter 2009-2010 (Dec Feb) was much above average, and the second largest extent in the 44 year period of record. The seasonal average extent of 47.5 million square km (18.3 million square miles) was 2.4 million square km (0.9 million square miles) above the long term average.
As of April 2011, the April Antarctic sea ice extent has increased at an average rate of 2.2 percent per decade, although there is considerable interannual variability. During April, Antarctic sea ice continued its annual growth cycle, after reaching its annual minimum extent at the end of February.
As of March 2011, the March Antarctic sea ice extent has increased at an average rate of 2.7 percent per decade, although there is considerable interannual variability. During March, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice began its annual growth season, after reaching its annual minimum extent at the end of February.
As of February 2011, Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent for February has increased at an average rate of 1.8 percent per decade.
As of January 2011, January Antarctic sea ice extent has increased at an average rate of 1.6 percent per decade.
December 2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was 8.87 percent above the 1979-2000 average. This was the sixth largest December Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent on record, and the fourth consecutive December with above-average ice extent. December Antarctic sea ice has increased at an average rate of 1.6 percent perdecade.
November 2010 Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was 4.09 percent above the 1979 2000 average. This was the largest November Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent on record. Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent for November has increased at an average rate of 0.7 percent per decade.
2010, October Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was 2.9 percent above the long-term average at 7.2 million square miles (18.7 million square km). The monthly extent marks the fourth largest October Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent since the satellite record began in 1979, and it was the eighth time since 2000 the Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was above average during October.
2010, September Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent reached its annual maximum during September and had a monthly average extent which was 2.3 percent above average. The extent of 7.4 million square miles (19.16 square km) was the third largest September extent on record behind 2006 and 2007. September Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent has increased at a rate of 0.8 percent per decade.
During August 2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent reached its largest extent on record for August, 4.1 percent above the 1979 2000 average. This is the second consecutive August with above-average Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent. Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent for August has increased at an average rate of 0.6 percent per decade.
‘July 2010 Antarctic sea ice extent was 4.8 percent above the 1979 2000 average. This was the largest July sea ice extent on record and the eighth consecutive July with above-average sea ice extent. Antarctic sea ice extent for July has increased at an average rate of 0.9 percent per decade since 1979. During June 2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent reached its largest extent on record for June, 8.3 percent above the 1979 2000 average. This is the eighth consecutive June with above-average Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent. Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent for June has increased at an average rate of 1.4 percent per decade.
May 2010 ice extent 7.3 percent above the 1979-2000 average. This marks the fourth largest May Southern Hemisphere ice extent on record. Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent for May has increased at an average rate of 2.4 percent per decade.
Northern Hemisphere sea ice maximum extent in 2010 was on March 31st the maximum extent was 15.25 million square km (5.9 million square miles). This was 670,000 square kilometers (260,000 square miles) above the record low maximum extent, which occurred in 2006.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global-snow/
For my whole life there has been a concentration of wealth where the rich have become richer and the gap between them and the rest of us has widened. For my whole life I have read again and again how this is not an acceptable thing to happen. This is an accepted wisdom with the debate being concluded even before my birth.
And yet, here and in yesterdays thread we have this line “wealth redistribution” be bandied around as if it is a bad thing. It is not and if the wealthy become a little poorer and the poor become a little wealthier only good can come of it. So get over it those who are bothered by this and try to grow a little moral backbone because your greed is a very unpleasant trait.
[Moderator: this comment has been edited. Please avoid the personal attacks. Thanks.]
The Right’s visceral hatred of Garnaut is firmly rooted in one simple truth – he’s gone into to bat for the other team. To Murdoch, Gina Rhino and Co it’s simply inconceivable that a Captain of Industry (primary industry no less) should be advocating the National Interest against the interests of his own “economic class” – specifically against those of fellow mining barons.
Our self absorbed neo feudal overlords can rant on about class warfare and wealth distribution until the cows come home – thinking Australian’s fully realise the wealthy few firmly embrace both as core principles of what they believe in – all that differs is the polarity of wealth redistribution and the class upon which war is waged.
Ross Garnaut firmly deserves to be our next Australian of the Year .. his vision and intellectual integrity, the quiet dignity and calm resolve with which he has whethered the relentless attacks on his credibility by the Right Wing Noise machine make him a wonderful role model for future generations Australian’s.
Acid Muse – VOMIT!