Sid Maher From: The Australian July 29, 2011 12:00AM
Video: Govt releases draft carbon tax bills
Company officials who fail to comply with the government's carbon tax could face up to ten years in jail. Sky News29 July 2011
A NEW carbon cop will be given sweeping powers to enter company premises, compel individuals to give self-incriminating evidence and copy sensitive records under a carbon tax package that will force about 60,000 businesses to pay 6c a litre extra for fuel.
The tough new powers of the Clean Energy Regulator were included in the fine detail of the carbon tax package released yesterday, which enshrines national emissions cuts of 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year after 2016, if the government of the day rejects targets proposed by its Climate Change Authority.
The package, which shows that the government will cement in law the body of its carbon tax structure in a bid to force Tony Abbott to win the approval of both houses of parliament to complete his promise to scrap it, also tasks the Productivity Commission with inquiries into assistance to trade-exposed industries, international climate change action and the future of fuel taxes.
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As it released the exposure draft of the 14-bill package -- which will set up the $23-a-tonne carbon tax, the mechanisms to pay compensation for households, the Climate Change Authority and the Clean Energy Regulator -- the government said it planned to introduce the bills in September and plan to have them passed by November. The schedule raised hackles with some interest groups for allowing only three weeks of consultation.
The exposure draft of the legislation gives sweeping powers to the Clean Energy Regulator, which will police the scheme, and the climate change minister will have the power to demand information from corporations covered by the scheme.
Fraud or attempts to subvert the scheme can be punished by up to 10 years in jail or fines of $1.1 million for corporations.
Inspectors working for the regulator will be able to obtain warrants to search premises of companies covered by the act and search or examine any activity on site as well as copy documents.
The regulator will have the authority to demand information from company officers even if it could incriminate them.
The enforcement provisions will be further strengthened by an extra $12.8m over four years for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet's spokesman said the safeguards were similar to the compliance provisions in other areas of business law such as corporations and consumer law.
The Clean Energy Regulator will administer a rigorous inspection regime and will be able to issue infringement notices and seek the imposition of penalties by the courts. "Most of the penalties are fines which will apply to corporations if they break the law," the spokesman said.
"There are a few offence provisions that could lead to jail terms, but they relate to serious criminal conduct such as deliberately falsifying records or stripping the assets of companies to evade liability."
Mr Combet said the government's plan to separate economic growth from long-term damage to the environment was an economic reform similar to floating the Australian dollar and introducing major tariff reforms.
And Wayne Swan seized on a $20 billion liquefied natural gas investment by Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips at Gladstone in Queensland as evidence of the benign impact of the carbon tax on the burgeoning LNG industry.
The Minerals Council hit back, saying the legislation clearly showed that the tax on a range of fuels would increase on a "carbon tax equivalent" rate.
"Australian Tax Office data shows that this tax increase will directly affect up to 60,000 businesses from 1 July, 2012, and nearly 100,000 companies when an additional 40,000 road transport businesses are captured by the tax on 1 July, 2014," an MCA spokesman said.
He added that it would raise $3.3 billion in the first three years and $16bn to 2020, including the change to aviation excise.
The government has consistently claimed the tax would directly apply to only 500 firms. Last night it argued the fuel treatment in the scheme did not change those figures as the companies concerned faced no extra administrative arrangements and were not liable to directly pay for pollution permits. This was limited to about 500 companies that emitted more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year and would be liable to pay for pollution permits.
The MCA spokesman said that, based on Australian Taxation Office data, from July 1 next year, 22,500 construction firms, 5300 manufacturing businesses and 1500 mining operators would pay more for fuel.
A spokesman for Mr Combet said the government announced on July 10 that there would be a carbon price for off-road business fuel use through reduced fuel tax credits -- but this would not apply to the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries. He said households paid 38c a litre in fuel excise and would pay no more.
"By contrast, off-road business fuel use is normally free of excise, due to fuel tax credits," he said. "The government will reduce the fuel tax credits by around 6c a litre. This will not impose any additional administrative burdens because businesses already fill out the forms for fuel tax credits, but it will create incentives to improve fuel efficiency and lower pollution from the transport sector."
Tony Abbott, speaking yesterday in the northern NSW electorate held by Tony Windsor, taunted Julia Gillard to resume her carbon tax promotion tour. "The Prime Minister is hiding . . . refusing to talk to the Australian people," the Opposition Leader said. "Not only did she not wear out the shoe leather, she didn't even wear the shoes in. At the first sign of a blister she's back in her office hiding . . . because she knows the more she talks about this tax the less people like it."
