Mining giant Rio Tinto urges Albanese government to reimpose carbon tax and boost green energy subsidies to meet renewables targets
Letters to the Productivity Commission's five pillars review, which will compile the agenda of the Albanese government's reform roundtable are beginning to flood in from a range of business groups and bodies.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry used its submission to rail against the implementation of a 2035 emission reduction target larger than 65 per cent, stating the move would impede economic growth and stymie manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the Australian Council of Trade Unions submission to the PC called on the government to consider imposing a Julia-Gillard style, economy wide carbon tax and said the policy was the best measure the government could take to ensure Australia was meeting its international climate obligations.
The nation's second largest mining company joined the ACTU in advocating for the government to roll out a carbon tax, a policy which has been shelved for more than a decade since the fall of the Gillard government in 2013.
Rio Tinto told the five pillars review that a new carbon pricing scheme was the only way the government could achieve its ambitious goal to have 82 per cent of Australia's electricity grid powered by renewables by 2030.
'Market-based price on carbon is the most effective way to incentivise the private sector to make low-carbon investments and drive down emissions,' Rio Tinto's submission read.
The multinational company went a step further than the ACTU and outlined that a carbon tax alone was not enough to lower emissions in line with federal deadlines, arguing for the government to expand subsides to renewable energy producers.
The consortium said greater federal funding packages were needed if the government wanted to bring down emissions in heavy industry while remaining 'commercially competitive in a global market.'
Rio Tinto is one of the most significant inheritors of the Albanese governments Future Made in Australia fund that provides up to $1.5 billion in grant funding to support pre-commercial innovation, demonstration and deployment of renewable energy and low emission technologies.
The company has several clean energy projects nationwide including large-scale solar and wind farms, battery storage facilities and renewable energy purchasing agreements.
Rio Tinto, unlike the ACCI resoundingly backed in the government's goal of achieving 82 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030, and said the target 'provides certainty that Australia is committed to a decarbonisation pathway underpinned by the development of renewable energy at scale'.
Australia's highest profile business leaders, including Rio Tinto CEO Kellie Parker and Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest joined Mr Albanese in Shanghai, on the second day of his six day long China visit and urged the PM to unleash greater collaboration on green steel and industrial decarbonisation efforts.
'We will create the future together of steel decarbonisation,' Ms Parker said.
Fortescue, who's former CEO Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest is an ardent renewables advocate used its submission to call on the government to boost taxpayer funded stimulus packages for renewable projects and lashed the ATO for not providing an adequate environment for clean energy investment.
'The Australian tax system does not currently provide sufficient incentives for major investment in new renewable or decarbonisation projects,' Fortescue's submission read.
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