ARRCC believes there are a number of reasons to be very pleased with the carbon tax package announced on July 10th, including: the large focus on investment in renewable energy, an independent authority to set future emissions reduction targets, compensation for low income households and the protection of forests from logging. However there are a number of areas where ARRCC believes that significant improvement could still be made.

Get informed

One of ARRCC's members has put together a comprehsenvie analysis of the carbon tax package (coming soon!), and ARRCC has developed a 2-page summary to help you understand the package. A number of other religious, community and enviornmental organisations have also developed responses to the carbon tax, details of which will be added soon.

Take action

ARRCC is now calling on supporters to write to the Government about the package, thanking them for taking the first steps towards major action on climate change and providing the leadership that our Religious Leaders Delegation to Canberra asked for in early June, while at the same time encouraging them to strengthen the package by addressing certain key areas. You can read ARRCC's letter here, and download a template to assist you in writing your own letter.  

What others are saying

• “CANA welcomes the Clean Energy Future Package as an important first step to address Australia's obligations to act on climate change.”
  - Climate Action Network Australia (CANA)
   
• “With the facts now on the table, it is clear that doomsday predictions about jobs and the impact on living costs are untrue.”
  - Australian Council of Trade Unions, President Ged Kearney
   
• “There are some drawbacks to the policy - for example, too much money is given back to big polluters and we would have liked to see a higher starting price to really start to move us away from polluting energy. But it's a foundation upon which we can build. Now we just want to get on with the job.”
  - Australian Youth Climate Coalition, National Director Ellen Sandell
   
• “The proposed ‘clean energy future’ legislation reflects the politics of climate change but not the science. The world’s carbon emissions are continuing to grow rapidly, so it’s important for the government to strengthen its initial climate change offering where possible.”
  - Beyond Zero Emissions, Executive Director Matthew Wright
     
• “Despite some benefits, Friends of the Earth fears the package will not deliver the emissions reductions that are needed.”
  - Friends of the Earth, Spokesperson James Goodwin
     
• “The climate agreement announced today will be the single biggest legislative victory for climate change action in Australia's history if passed by Parliament later this year.”
  - GetUp
     
• “We believe this is a fundamental first step in our journey to a clean energy future. The fact that we have any price at all is testament to all Australians who demanded the government take action on climate change. But equally, the fact it is such a low price, with such limited coverage is testament to the power of the big polluters to dominate Australia’s political leadership.”
  - Greenpeace Australia Pacific, CEO Dr. Linda Selvey
     
• "Investor Group on Climate Change has consistently called for certainty and a market based scheme and today's carbon price announcement delivers both."
  - Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), CEO Nathan Fabian
     
• “These policies will finally break a political deadlock which has seen our politicians squabbling and dithering for over a decade.”
  - The Climate Institute, CEO John Connor
     
• “The introduction of a carbon price boosts Australia’s efforts to reduce the dangerous impacts of climate change on poor communities, and to participate in developing global carbon markets.”
  - Worldvision, CEO Tim Costello