Climate Change ETS Bill reported back

The Government’s Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) bill has been reported back by the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.  It is 328 pages long and has over 1,000 amendments which means the Government will of course try and pass it as quickly as possible.

Even the commentary to explain the changes takes up over 50 pages. This is the biggest change to our economy since GST I would say, and it is silly to rush it through because of the election, instead of making sure it is right.

Look what happened to the Electoral Finance Act when they didn’t allow submissions on the revised bill? They are going to make the same mistake again. The changes from the original bill are significant enough that stakeholders should be given a chance to have their say on them.

It is worth remembering that the Government has already delayed the effective implementation of the ETS until 2011 (except for Foresty), so we have lots of time to get the ETS right. There is a difference between delaying the Bill and delaying the ETS itself.