The Australian Industry Group (AiGroup), a peak employer body, urges the Coalition to spend ‘at least’ $3.3bn on renewable energy over the next ten years, warning that the country faces a “costly increase in climate-related impacts and risks” even in the best-case scenario.
It said:
The scale of costs and breadth of the impact of climate change for people in Australia is deeply concerning and will escalate over time. It is in Australia’s national interest that we do all we can to contribute to successful global action to minimize further temperature rises and take action to manage the changes we can’t avoid.
It also says the Morrison government should spend an additional $500m over the next two years on capital grants to improve energy management and efficiency, as well as introduce existing technologies that are uncommon in the Australian market. Such technologies include electric induction furnaces, heat pumps, electrification of processes, and energy management systems like technology that enables demand response.
The Australian Industry Group made the calls in its pre-budget submission, which follows a statement from 10 business, industry, farming, and environmental leaders warning Australia is “woefully unprepared” for the impact of climate change over the coming decades. The statement also proposes the government cut business tax, bring forward income tax cuts, extend the coronavirus supplement on jobseeker, and make another round of $750 payments to households. Reducing the tax rate on incomes would “increase take-home pay and household spending.”
A few other recommendations include that the government orders a biannual climate vulnerability assessment, that climate change response becomes a standing item at national cabinet meetings, that free childcare should be extended, and that the federal government should increase spending on public housing.
And finally, as the country tackles the Covid-19 economic recovery, it should do so by addressing climate change.
The business council chief, Jennifer Westacott, said:
Putting Australia on the path to net-zero emissions by 2050 can be an opportunity to drive billions of dollars of new investment, create new jobs, create new industries, boost our resilience and build the stronger regions we’ll need to supercharge our recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The chief executive of AiGroup, Innes Willox, said:
For the near term, measures are clearly required to assist and secure the recovery of activity, investment, and employment in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. The budget also presents an opportunity to act on measures that will rectify the underlying weaknesses in the economy that were evident prior to the onset of the Covid-19 crisis.
Last summer, the insurance industry received over 297,780 claims relating to flood, bushfire, and hailstorm catastrophes, with losses totaling nearly $5.4bn, according to The Insurance Council of Australia. Natural systems are suffering irreversible damage, and some communities are in a constant state of recovery from successive disasters, which bears increasing economic ramifications. Inaction would surely lead to unprecedented economic damage with significant threats to tourism, agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries.
Natural disasters demand emergency response and spending from the government. The more frequently they happen, the more tax revenue will fall, and government budgets will suffer severe pressure. Accompanying such a catastrophe would be significant and long-lasting health and social impacts. Loss of life and money will be inevitable.
