Research has found that a $45 a tonne carbon price could create almost 8000 more permanent jobs in the electricity sector by 2030 than there are now and 26,000 more temporary manufacturing and construction jobs, as tens of billions of dollars are invested in clean energy projects.
The research, which predicts 1500 new permanent jobs in NSW, will be launched today by the independent MP Tony Windsor, whose vote will be crucial for the passage of the government’s proposed carbon price.
Commissioned by the Climate Institute think tank, the study is designed to pre-empt a scare campaign by industry about possible job losses.
It focuses on jobs in regional areas where the employment effects are likely to be greatest.
It assumes the government sets a high $45 a tonne initial carbon price to meet a 25 per cent emission reduction target by 2020, even though the initial price of the scheme is more likely to be about $25 a tonne and the only agreed 2020 emission reduction target is 5 per cent.
But the chief executive of the Climate Institute, John Connor, said that even a lower price would ”still drive these employment outcomes because the renewable energy target does the hard work in the early years”.
The study, by SKM-MMA and Ernst & Young, found that by 2030 there would be 34,000 more jobs nationwide. Of the predicted NSW jobs, 1700 would be in the New England Tablelands in Mr Windsor’s electorate.
It predicts that by 2030, 43 per cent of Australia’s energy could come from clean sources, compared with 12 per cent today.
