Energy
Economics & Deregulation / Energy
Energy is a vital area of the Australian economy, but it is constantly threatened by regulation and taxation. The Institute of Public Affairs examines the regulatory framework governing the energy sector and shows how deregulation can ensure that firms are given every opportunity to operate efficiently and that consumers receive the full benefits of a deregulated energy market. Environmental policies are also likely to challenge the vitality of this important sector.
The IPA also runs the Energy Forum, which brings together firms in the electricity and gas supply industry, all of which share a common view that privatisation and minimal levels of regulation will best serve the community. It provides a platform on which major industry leaders can test their views and subject them to informed criticism. Energy Forum papers are available here. For more information about the Energy Forum, please contact Alan Moran.
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News
Blame ETS on business
Two weeks ago the Business Council of Australia released a report on the impact of an emissions trading scheme (ETS). Fourteen companies in the...
Liberals need to seize the nettle on power issue
On the same day that NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell torpedoed the NSW Government's plans to privatise the state's electricity...
Climate mettle about to be tested
An emissions trading scheme has not even started but the Government's hostility to carbon emissions is already choking off the supply of...
Tax on energy use is best way to fight pollution
The emissions trading scheme (ETS) is advertised as being a "market solution to a market problem". This is a clever piece of rhetoric that has long...
GST points the way for carbon tax
Ross Garnaut describes the dilemma of imposing a carbon tax on the trade-exposed emission-intensive industries as "truly dreadful problem". His...
Prepare for dim, costly future
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong accused the Opposition of not knowing whether it was Arthur or Martha on climate change. As the realities of a...
Publications
Who should take the blame for the biofuels tragedy?
In Mexico early last year, 75,000 people took to the streets in protest of the increasing cost of basic grain, in what were branded the ‘tortilla riots.' In March 2008, there were food riots in Egypt. And in April, Haitians rioted over the...
Federal government ads misleading on climate insurance cost
In order to prepare the nation for the introduction of the ETS, the federal government has begun a large advertising campaign to argue that, without action, climate change will have a significant economic impact. In particular one of their most...
Climate change is not our #1 problem
It is easy to forget that climate change is not the only issue facing the world today. In ignoring other problems we run the risk of introducing inefficient solutions that make other problems worse. A good example is the promotion of biofuels...
