Key Greenhouse Response Strategy in Energy and Transport for Australia: A Discussion Paper

2.8 Encourage the states to remove cross-subsidies for electricity and fuel prices in rural areas and replace them by location allowances (these could still be funded by a levy on the price of electricity in urban areas).

2.9 Add to the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program funding for public transport planning by state governments, infrastructure for cycling and walking, and local transport planning by local governments.

2.10 End the existing bias towards funding the construction of major roads by adopting legislation similar to the USA’s Transportation Equity Act (TEA), which requires roads to compete with rail, and includes environmental impacts in the assessments of funding proposals, which are done by cities & local regions.

2.11 Work with the states to implement a national system of mass and distance charges for heavy trucks travelling in Australia’s populous zone, i.e. the J-shaped curve from Townsville to Adelaide, east of the Newell Hwy and South of the Sturt Hwy.

2.12 As a matter of urgency, remove tax benefits for the purchase and use of company cars and government cars, and increase the rate of import duty on 4-wheel drives to parity with that of ordinary passenger cars. Phase out oil exploration incentives. Allow only a fixed flat-rate income tax deduction for personal vehicle use, set at the marginal cost per km of use of a fuel-efficient car, not the total cost per km. Likewise, permit business to claim only fuel costs based on 8 litres/100 km, or some similar benchmark, ratcheting down over time.

2.13 To raise additional funds for the implementation of programs by all levels of government to reduce GHG emissions, implement either a low carbon tax or a system of tradeable emission permits with charges for the permits increasing gradually until it comes to reflect the best estimates of the environmental, health and social costs of using fossil fuels.

2.14 To assist the process of achieving the targets and to ensure that improvements continue throughout the 21^st century, increase funding for R & D on efficient energy use and renewable-energy technologies, and on the organisational and institutional changes required for their dissemination.

3.1 Ensure that new investments in major transport links, suburbs, power stations, shopping centres, and employment centres are planned to minimise GHG emissions. In particular, there should be no new coal-fired power stations or urban freeways, and no cheap parking places for motor vehicles in urban centres or sub-centres.

3.2 Remove all subsidies from electricity and fuel prices in rural areas, and replace with remote-area location allowances.

3.3 Remove incentives for selling excessive electricity from electricity retailers in all States.

3.4 Mandate energy ratings for all homes and require that these ratings be published in all advertisements for the sale and rental of the homes, as is already done in the Australian Capital Territory