Economists have rejected NSW Treasury estimates that the carbon tax would slash 31,000 jobs in the state.
Professor John Quiggin, from the School of Economics at the University of Queensland, said the job figures were ”meaningless” because they failed to take into account the larger number of jobs likely to be created in renewable energy industries.
Bill Mitchell, a professor of economics from the University of Newcastle, said the carbon tax would actually increase jobs.
”If you were to close coal-fired power generation and were to replace it with renewable power generation, you get a net increase in employment …” he said.
”Coal-fired power stations don’t employ that many people and renewables offer a wider range of job opportunities, ranging from design and research, advertising, manufacturing, construction and implementation, sales and marketing, and installations.”
The shadow treasurer, Michael Daley, said the Treasury report failed to mention that 1.6 million jobs were expected to be created nationwide under the carbon scheme by 2020.
The chief of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Pepe Clarke, said government claims that the carbon price would raise household electricity prices by up to $498 a year were misleading.
Mr Clarke said federal Treasury modelling estimated an increase of $3.30 a week for the average household, or $171 a year.
”The average household will receive about $10.10 a week in assistance for the impacts of the carbon package and there are additional incentives for household energy efficiency programs,” he said.
”The real driver of ongoing electricity price increases in NSW is the more than $15 billion being spent on electricity infrastructure, substations, and poles and lines.”
The Greens MP John Kaye said the state government should use the carbon price as a springboard for investment in renewable energy industries.
