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The Economy, Stupid

A Carbon Tax Comeback?

2/12/202629 min

Spending is outpacing revenue, and the budget gap isn’t closing.

At the same time, Australia is drifting off track on its emissions targets for 2030, 2035 and 2050.

The Superpower Institute has a proposal: a revamped carbon pricing model it says could help fix both.

Australians rejected carbon pricing more than a decade ago.

The question now is whether the country is ready to reconsider? 

Guests: 

Ingrid Burford, Lead, Carbon Pricing and Policy, Superpower Institute

Ben Potter, contributing Editor at The Energy

Superpower Institute: The Case for Pricing Pollution: Reducing emissions, strengthening the economy, and delivering a fair share for Australians

Clips

Climate costs already biting
68% back carbon levy
Inside the Polluter Pays Levy
Low price, huge cuts
Canberra wisdom gets challenged

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 00:00

    [upbeat music] ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.

  2. Ben Potter· Guest0:07

    Global Roaming is expanding to weekdays on ABC Radio National.

  3. Hamish Macdonald· Soundbite0:11

    Global events? Well, they're coming too thick and fast.

  4. Ben Potter· Guest0:15

    We're delivering five days a week.

  5. Hamish Macdonald· Soundbite0:18

    The issues, the challenges are serious, but our aim always is to make it a conversation we can all share. I'm Hamish Macdonald.

  6. Ben Potter· Guest0:26

    I'm Geraldine Doogue, and now joined by esteemed colleagues Latika Bourke and Kylie Morris.

  7. Hamish Macdonald· Soundbite0:32

    Global Roaming.

  8. Ben Potter· Guest0:33

    Search for Global Roaming on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.

  9. Peter Martin· Host0:38

    Among the many problems facing the government are two enormous ones: it's spending too much compared to what it earns, it's forecasting deficits as far as the eye can see, and it isn't even close to meeting its commitments to cut carbon emissions. As things stand, it'll miss its targets in twenty thirty, twenty thirty-five, and twenty fifty. What if there was a way out of both problems that also allowed it to hand out cash and gave it funds to spare? At its core would be a carbon tax, an idea the new Superpower Institute has just refined and put back into public circulation. Yes, we voted against a carbon tax once in an election thirteen years ago, but we also voted against the goods and services tax once,

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