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Hasten slowly on carbon trading

Posted on November 21, 2008, 1:01pm

Back in the early 1980s, when the Australian Government decided subsidising inefficient local industries was not the way to do business, it signalled the start of the free trade era.

Inefficient businesses were no longer propped up by the Australian taxpayer.

One of the few to vigorously embrace free trade was the farming industry, but it was forced to compete on an uneven playing field against countries supported by government subsidies.

But because Australia largely produces the best quality rural products our farmers held their own.

The great problem is that more than 25 years later and after years of negotiations, Australia has failed to convince other large agricultural countries to embrace free trade.

Many are beginning to realise Australia’s keenness to introduce a carbon emissions trading scheme to combat so-called global warming could leave us even more vulnerable, again leaving some nations to gain at our expense.

Australia cannot go it alone in tackling global warming.

The consequences are huge and the rising Third World countries, such as India and Indonesia, which have lower environmental standards than Australia, will gladly accept our so-called “dirty” industries to create jobs for their people.

The carbon emission scheme comes at a huge cost for some industries.

In South Australia, companies such as Kimberly-Clark at Snuggery and other smelter-type industries in the north of the state are already raising concerns with the Federal Government that the cost of the scheme will send them offshore.

Imagine what the closure of Kimberly Clark will do to Millicent’s economy and the job losses that will flow into the forest and transport industries?

If global warming is a fact and, there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise, then Australia should hasten slowly and for once, not be the world’s policeman in leading from the front.

Free trade was a great idea, but it should have taught us a lesson. It works only if all trading partner nations do the same.

We have been left out in the cold for 25 years on free trade.

We can’t afford to go it alone on carbon emissions trading.

So far, countries that have signed the Kyoto agreement will fail to meet 2010 targets and beyond — it’s obvious what that tells us.

Until all countries are committed and actually meet targets, we are just whistling in the dark, watching our jobs and industries go offshore.

If Kimberly-Clark closes, the loss of $800m to the local economy, along with 1400 jobs, is real.

If the Australian Government believes it must act on global warming then the message is — remember the mistakes of the free trade fiasco.

GRAHAM GREENWOOD

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