Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading

The Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading was set up by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in December 2006, with the aim of advising "on the nature and design of a workable global emissions trading system in which Australia would be able to participate." 

The Task Group is however made up almost entirely of representatives of Australia's biggest polluting companies (as well as a few government bureaucrats), and has no representatives of any environment or civil society groups. Nor does it have any representatives from the Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change

Task Group Members

 * Dr Peter Shergold - Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
 * Mr David Borthwick - Secretary, Department of the Environment and Heritage
 * Mr Peter Coates - Executive Committee Member, Xstrata, one of the big three Australian coal producers along with BHP and Rio Tinto.
 * Mr Tony Concannon - Managing Director, International Power, owner of Australia’s oldest and dirtiest power station, Hazelwood, in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley
 * Dr Ken Henry, Secretary, The Treasury
 * Mr Russell Higgins, Non-Executive Company Director Australian Pipeline Trust, and oil and gas pipeline operator
 * Ms Margaret Jackson, Chairman, Qantas, Australia’s biggest transport polluter
 * Mr Michael L’Estrange, Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
 * Mr Chris Lynch, Executive Director, BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, with large investments in fossil fuel projects
 * Mr John Marlay, Chief Executive Officer, Alumina Limited, Australia’s biggest energy consumer and recipient of billions of dollars in subsidised power from Victorian taxpayers over many years.
 * Mr Mark Paterson, Secretary, Department of Industry, Tourism and Resource
 * Mr John Stewart, Managing Director, National Australia Bank, chief banker to Australia’s mining establishment.

Other SourceWatch Resources

 * Global warming