The Rann Labor government is worried Julia Gillard is moving too quickly to introduce a carbon tax and that the proposal will result in widespread job losses.
South Australian Energy Minister Michael O’Brien has raised state Labor’s concerns during a private meeting with Climate Change Minister Greg Combet’s parliamentary secretary Mark Dreyfus. He said the government feared Port Augusta’s power stations, which provide 40 per cent of South Australia’s power, could be forced to close under the proposed carbon tax.
“We are obviously concerned and want surety,” Mr. O’Brien said. The government was worried about the effect on jobs at Port Augusta’s power stations and the Whyalla steelworks.
Modelling has found that reducing greenhouse emissions by 5 per cent of 2000 levels by 2020 would slash the earnings of the country’s coal-fired power stations by millions of dollars annually.
“We are concerned about the very short timeframe to do all this work,” Mr. O’Brien said.
Mr. Dreyfus said the effect of a carbon price “needs to be carefully managed to ensure we remain competitive and support jobs”. The government was “committed to providing appropriate assistance to these industries to help support jobs and competitiveness during the transition”, he said.
