The Federal Coalition has announced, if elected, it will cut programs related to the carbon tax and other emission reduction schemes as part of its push for budget savings.
A Coalition statement said: “Abolishing the remaining spending linked to the carbon tax will deliver savings of $7.5 billion”.
The cuts include:
? “Discontinuing the Clean Technology Program ($0.4 billion);
? Discontinuing other small Clean Energy Future business compensation measures including the Energy Efficiency Information Grants, the Clean Energy Skills package, and the Clean Technology Focus for Supply Chain programs;
? Discontinuing various land sector initiatives … as well as bureaucracies like the Climate Change Authority ($0.4 billion)”
Other Coalition Savings, the statement reads, include: “Further savings totalling $0.8 billion over the forward estimates will be realised from: Redirection of funding from the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships Program (saving $0.3 billion)”.
Unspecified cuts have also been flagged for The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). ARENA’s purpose has been to support innovations that improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia.
At a press conference on Wednesday morning Joe Hockey was reported as stating that “cuts to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA made up part of the $1.5b in savings”.
