Australia Enlists Big Business, Community Groups On Climate Policy

Australia's minority Labor government said Monday it has enlisted big business and community groups to give advice to lawmakers on climate change policy, in a bid to head off any opposition to plans to green up the economy before it takes seed.

"The introduction of a carbon price will reshape the business environment for all Australian companies, providing businesses with the certainty they need to begin the transition to a low pollution economy," Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said in a joint statement.

The new roundtable, which includes business groups the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Australian Industry Group and Business Council of Australia, alongside companies like BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Bluescope Steel (BSL.AU), Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) and Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AU), is designed to "ensure that the views of the business community are front and center as we progress this important economic reform," they said.

A separate roundtable of non-government organizations, including the Australian Conservation Foundation and The Climate Institute was also announced Monday.

Climate change issues have been given a fresh start in Australia after an August federal election narrowly returned the center-left Labor Party to office--but only with the support of rural-based independents and a Greens party lawmaker who are pushing for climate action.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made it increasingly clear she intends to use the new alliance between her minority government and independents to accelerate moves to green up the economy, reversing an election pledge not to push for any form of tax on greenhouse-gas emissions during the current three-year parliamentary term.

Australia is the biggest per capita polluter in the developed world because of its reliance on fossil fuels, mainly coal, for electricity generation.

The Greens, who will hold the balance of power in the Senate from July 1, want Australia to introduce a carbon tax as an interim measure before introducing a full carbon trading scheme once a global agreement is reached.

Businesses have leant support to the idea of a carbon tax in recent weeks, including BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers, who last month said it would provide certainty for future investment.

A failure to look beyond coal-fired electricity will "place us at a competitive disadvantage in a future where carbon is priced globally," Kloppers said.

-By Rachel Pannett, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-6208-0901; [e-mail]