Australia counts down to pollution, mining taxes


Hard-fought levies on corporate pollution and so-called "super profits" of iron ore and coal mining take effect Sunday after years of heated debate and campaigning which cost former prime minister Kevin Rudd his job.





Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the tax was an essential step in transforming Australia's economy.

"We are the highest polluter per person of greenhouse gases among the advanced economies, we're in the top 20 greenhouse gas emitters internationally," he said Friday.

Combet added that Australia's major trading partners, including China and South Korea, were introducing mitigation measures such as emissions trading schemes and "other countries are taking action as well".

"The international community expects Australia to play its fair part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he said.


Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the passage of the tax in November as the result of 37 political inquiries and "years of bitter debate and division" which saw her replace Rudd in a party-room coup.

Also instrumental in Rudd's downfall was an ambitious plan to levy the "super profits" of Australia's booming mining sector at 40 percent, a watered-down version of which will also kick in on Sunday.

Intense lobbying by mining giants including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata against Rudd's tax saw him axed in favour of Gillard who scaled it back to just the iron ore and coal industries and lowered the rate to 30 percent.



Download it now.

Latest News