From the Canberra Times:
Abolishing carbon pricing could cost the federal budget at least $4 billion a year within five years, if the Abbott government wants to reduce emissions in line with Australia’s international commitments, says economist Ross Garnaut.
The Abbott government has limited the cost of Direct Action by “capping” funding at $1.55 billion over three years, but costs would blow out in the future if the Coalition wanted to keep up with international standards.
”A fund large enough to provide similar incentives for emissions reduction to those under existing policies would see a deterioration of the budget of around $4-5 billion per annum,” wrote Professor Garnaut…
…In his submission, he also said the direct action plan places the Senate in a ”Martian beauty contest”.
The government had asked the Senate to repeal the carbon tax by ”introducing some indelicate features of the first contestant” and then invited judges to award the prize to a second candidate – the direct action plan to the pay polluters to cut back – while it was ”still hidden from view”.
”We have seen some gnarled toes, and people who are expert in these things can guess at the shape of the rest of the body,” he said.
Read the full submission here.
