“The federal government must immediately shelve its secretive Nature Positive plan to setup Environment Protection Australia, which now will only be possible with the support of the Greens, who will demand a $227 billion ‘climate trigger’ for their vote,” said Saxon Davidson, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
As reported in The Australian, with the announcement that the Coalition will not support a federal EPA, the Prime Minister cannot push forward without the Greens’ support, who will undoubtedly demand a ‘climate trigger’ in negotiations, which will be a disaster for Australia’s economy.
A ‘climate trigger’ would require any project to be subject to a federal EPBC Act approval process should a certain level of annual carbon emissions be triggered. Previous IPA research found introducing a ‘climate trigger’ would potentially prevent $227.1 billion of investment in the Australian economy.
“It would be a $227 billion disaster for the Australian economy should the federal government use a ‘climate trigger’ as a bargaining chip to ensure the passage of its secretive Nature Positive agenda,” said Mr Davidson.
“Adding a ‘climate trigger’ to the EPBC Act will duplicate existing federal regulation, add significant costs to business and prevent investment in major job creating projects.”
“This is an important moment for the Prime Minister, will he acquiesce to the demands of the inner-city Greens, or stand up for the jobs and wealth creation in our vital resources sector?” asked Mr Davidson.
The threat of an economically disastrous ‘climate trigger’ follows IPA analysis which found that the establishment of Environment Protection Australia would cost taxpayers approximately $1.8 billion per year.
“Do not make a bad policy worse. The federal EPA is already a poor policy proposal which will cost taxpayers $1.8 billion every year, adding a ‘climate trigger’ will only increase cost of living pressures mainstream Australians face, particularly in the regions,” said Mr Davidson.
“The political class and inner-city elites who demand policies such as Nature Positive and net zero are never the ones who are most impacted by them. It is working Australians in rural and regional areas that get left with the bill and left behind,”
To download the IPA’s research on the costs of a ‘climate trigger’ click here.
