Sustainability Party of Australia newsletter #3 – federal election edition



In this edition:



Carbon taxes, climate change and your vote

The Garnaut report

Rainwater tanks - the most expensive and polluting option

QLD renters to be charged for water use

Tax reform

Kangaroos and Californian law

Whaling

Party Policy



Carbon taxes, climate change and your vote



The Sustainability Party is not registered and will not be fielding any candidates at the upcoming federal election. The only other party that supports carbon taxes instead of carbon trading is Conservatives For Climate and Environment. They have senate candidates in NSW, Vic and WA and lower house candidates in NSW. Please consider voting for them if you are voting below the line or if you approve of their preference deals – unfortunately your vote will go to Family First, then One Nation, the coalition, then Greens and Democrats with Labor last. This is close to the exact opposite of rankings based on how quickly each party wishes to respond to climate change.



http://www.ozpolitic.com/electoral-reform/senate-group-voting-tickets-above-line-guide.html



There is clear support for carbon taxes instead of trading schemes among economists and only public ignorance and the vested interests of big polluters is holding the idea back. Links to more info:


http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1168051896/46#46
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1191728697



The Labor party has significantly better climate change policies than the coalition. The Democrats and Greens are similar to each other and both better than Labor.



Fancy that - a group funded by coal and energy companies telling the PM he needs to do more about climate change:


http://ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1168051896/24#24


The Garnaut report



Labor is likely to win the next election and will base its climate change policies on the upcoming Garnaut report into the economic issues. This is likely to be a 'rubber stamp' for Labor's carbon trading policy, even though the majority of economists prefer carbon taxes. Peter Garrett claimed that Labor is already 'locked in' to carbon trading.


http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1195182818


Some more economically shortsighted climate change policies from Kevin Rudd:


http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1174021901
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1193376817/1#1


Rainwater tanks - the most expensive and polluting option



I have just finished installing a rainwater tank, with all parts including the pump and plenty of fittings paid for in full by the government. I did all the labour myself. Unfortunately it appears that the small pumps are so inefficient that their electricity consumption is comparable to a seawater desalination plant. That means that they produce significant greenhouse emissions. When I pointed this out to Peter Garrett he said that the electricity will come from renewable sources, yet he has spent the last few months lambasting John Howard for making the same claim about desalination. Rainwater tanks are also by far the most expensive option, yet produce the lowest quality water.



Details of the electricity consumption comparison, and also of cost:


http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1178668457/14#14


I currently pay about $1/kL (1$ per 1000L, which is one tonne or 1 cubic meter) for water. We should be paying at least $2 to justify the more drastic measures taken to produce water. There is no point spending a fortune on water infrastructure only to have people waste it.



Interestingly, we are not far off being able to produce unlimited pure water via desalination, powered by wind power. The cost of such water would not be unpalatable for domestic users, but would be prohibitive for agriculture unless food prices were to rise significantly. Most industries could foot the bill, especially if they have the ability to make a lot of water savings (as most do). It certainly makes more sense than carrying buckets of water around the backyard, which has been a boon for the local chiropractors.



QLD renters to be charged for water use



This is a good move. If renters are not charged for the amount of water they consume, they will treat it as if it were free. Congratulations to the QLD state government for taking this important step. May the other states follow suit.


http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1178930310/6#6


Tax reform



It was good to see both parties adopt significant income tax reductions as core policy. Now if only they would peg the tax brackets to the CPI or the wage index. The SPA has added a bracket creep policy. I think it would also be a good idea to have a sliding scale rather than step changes in tax rates – more to come on this.



tax freedom day:


http://ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1177399964


Kangaroos and Californian law



There is still now news on how the bill to remove California's ban on Kangaroo products is progressing. It has passed parliament and is presumably still sitting in a pile on the governator's desk, waiting for a signature. If you know any Californian's please ask them to pass on the word – hurry up please!


http://ozpolitic.com/sustainability-party/kangaroo-law.html


Whaling



A sustainable whaling policy has been added


http://ozpolitic.com/sustainability-party/why-allow-whaling.html