The
CPRS legislation is critical both for the environment and for the
creation of sustainable jobs for working Australians in a competitive
economy, and must be passed as soon as possible, says the ACTU and
unions.
“The
settlement between the Rudd Government and the opposition has sadly
been driven by business self-interest in many areas, however the basic
architecture to drive carbon abatement remains intact,” said ACTU
President Sharan Burrow.
“The CPRS, combined with the Renewable
Energy Target, will now create a framework of climate laws to begin the
transition to a lower-carbon economy.”
The ACTU says unions have and will continue to campaign for thousands of clean energy jobs in emerging and existing industries.
“Likewise
we will continue to push for jobs in carbon intensive industries to be
protected by ensuring that companies make a genuine effort to modernize
their processes to remain globally competitive.
“Further, we
will champion policies to ensure Australia’s manufacturing and services
industries are leaders at home and internationally in the rapidly
growing clean-tech, green products market, now worth A$6.1 trillion,”
said the ACTU President.
Australia still has a great deal more
work to do in areas such as energy efficiency, private and public
transport, research and development, skills training and re-training,
and international climate finance, said Ms Burrow
“The dinosaurs
in the Liberal and National parties must not be allowed to hold
Australia back on any of these fronts. Now we are finally moving
forward, we cannot afford to waste any more time.”