Gov’t billions subsidise polluters

Issue 

For every dollar the Australian government spends on cutting carbon pollution, it spends $11 encouraging it, new research from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has revealed.

ACF said on March 1 that its analysis showed: “The Australian government spends $11 billion more on subsidies that encourage greenhouse pollution than it does on programs to tackle climate change.”

It said that since 2007/08, government funding for carbon abatement programs has risen by about $500 million. But government funding for programs that promote carbon pollution rose by more than $1.5 billion in the same period.

In 2007/08, the government spent $10.6 billion on fossil fuel subsidies. It spent just $480 million on climate change policies.

ACF Executive Director Don Henry said: “This financial year the spending on climate programs is up to around $1 billion, but the fossil fuel subsidies are up too, to a massive $12 billion, meaning the Australian Government is spending $11 billion more encouraging pollution than on cleaning it up …

“We need to stop putting taxpayers’ money into pollution promotion and start investing in clean energy, like wind and solar.”

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