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Miners get $4b in direct subsidies says think tank

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:35:00 GMT

THE federal government gives just over $4 billion in direct subsidies to mining companies each year, mainly in the form of cheap fuel and tax breaks for building roads and railways, a report by the Australia Institute think tank said.

The biggest single subsidy passing from the general public to miners comes in the form of fuel-tax credits, formerly named the diesel fuel rebate, which were valued at $1.89 billion in 2009-10, the institute's report said.

Australia must act on climate change - Broadbent

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:33:00 GMT

AUSTRALIA'S economy will be "very vulnerable" if it does not act on climate change, says Reserve Bank of Australia board member Jillian Broadbent.

The comment follows the Federal Government's release yesterday of her independent review of its Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which will offer up to $10 billion to companies in the renewable energy sector struggling to secure capital.

Ms Broadbent says Australia risks being left behind in the global shift toward renewable energy and carbon reductions.

Green loans to flow before next federal poll

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:31:00 GMT

JULIA Gillard's $10 billion green bank will begin writing the first loans for renewable energy and emissions reductions projects as early as July 1 next year - just weeks before a federal election will decide the future of the carbon pricing package.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will write loans with terms of more than a decade, providing a potential complication to Tony Abbott's vow to scrap the carbon pricing scheme in favour of his direct action plan if he wins power at the next election.

Greenhouse gas emissions still on the rise, data shows

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:28:00 GMT

AUSTRALIA'S greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise last year, driven by an increase in vehicle use and gases leaking from coalmines, federal government data show.

The nation released 546 million tonnes more carbon dioxide than its land mass absorbed last year, not including the data from changes in land use and logging, which is recorded separately.

This is a 0.6 per cent increase on the 2010 emissions figure, still below the nation's peak in 2008.