The Australian Labor Party's 2007 Election Campaign Climate Change Policies

In the 2007 election campaign the Australian Labor Party promised that if elected it would spend $415.3 million more than the Howard government on policies aimed at combating climate change.

Proposed Initiatives and Funding
In its election manifesto, the ALP stated that it would :
 * establish a $500 million Renewable Energy Fund - to develop, commercialise and deploy renewable energy in Australia.
 * establish a $240 million Clean Business Fund – to help business and industry deliver energy and water efficiency projects, with a focus on productivity and innovation.
 * establish a $150 million Energy Innovation Fund – to keep our world leading scientists and researchers in Australia, rather than losing them overseas;
 * establish a $500 million National Clean Coal Fund to fund the deployment of clean coal technologies;
 * Immediately ratify the Kyoto Protocol;
 * Set a 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target by 2020;
 * provide $8000 rebates for solar power;
 * $1000 rebates for solar hot water systems;
 * $500 rebates for grey water piping and rainwater tanks;
 * $500 rebates for landlords to install insulation;
 * $10,000 in low interest Green loans for solar systems and water and energy savings measures.
 * Invest $15 million in a Clean Energy Export Strategy;
 * Invest $20 million in a Clean Energy Innovation Centre; and
 * Invest in a Green Car Innovation Fund to develop and build green cars in Australia.

Post-Election Performance

 * In its 2008-2009 budget, the Rudd government announced that the Renewable Energy Fund would be funded to the tune of $500 million over six years but that the start date for the fund had been pushed back a year to 2009-2010. The budget papers also revealed that the government had pared back the initial funding of the scheme from the promised $75 million a year to be $55.5 in its first year, $71 million in its second year, and $101 million in the third year when the next federal election is scheduled for.


 * In its 2008-2009 budget, the Rudd government announced that the fund, which had been renamed the Clean Business Australia initiative, would be funded to the tune of $240.0 million over four years from 2008‑09, "which will assist businesses reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and bring to market new products that save energy and water." The fund, within the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research has three program components comprising


 * In December 2007 In the first major act of the new Labor Government, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol.


 * In its 2008-2009 budget, the Rudd government announced that the Green Car Innovation Fund would be funded to the tune of $500 million over five years but with the scheme only commencing in 2011‑12. The budget papers revealed that the government had decided the fund would be funded to the tune of $100 million in 20011-2012. Despite the delay in the initial funding, in June 2008 Rudd announced that a $35 million grant from the fund would underwrite the production by Toyota of 10,000 Camry's at its Altona plant in Victoria. The funding subsidy was matched by the Victorian government. However, Toyota management confirmed that the project would have proceeded to manufacture the car at Altona without the funding.


 * in its 2008-2009 budget, the Minister for Environment, Peter Garrett, announced that an additional; $25.6 million would be allocated for rebates on the installation of solar photovoltaic systems under the Solar Homes and Communities Plan. However, the government announced that the rebate of up to $8,000 would only be available on households with an annual taxable income of less than $100,000. In an interview Garrett stated that the scheme had been so popular that the scheme was "overheating" and defended introducing the mean testing of the rebate "because we believe that that enables the rebate to go to those families who actually do need it most." In a later interview Garret stated that the "program was over-subscribed and would have overheated and produced in the solar industry ... demand fluctuation such as we would make it very difficult for this industry to be sustainable." The introduction of the means test on the rebate was opposed by the Liberal Party, the Australian Greens and the solar industry.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Accra Climate Change Talks 2008
 * Clean Development Mechanism
 * COP14
 * COP15
 * Emissions Trading
 * Joint Implementation
 * Kyoto Protocol
 * United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change