HEAVY industry would be given an incentive to start cutting its emissions even before the introduction of an emssions trading scheme or carbon tax under a policy that Prime Minister Julia Gillard will announce today in a bid to revive her party's credibility on climate change.
The environment policy comes as Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday backed Ms Gillard's controversial stand on population, saying that a sustainable Australia could be achieved without cutting immigration or economic growth.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Australian Financial Review, Mr Swan said the government was pursuing a mix of policies from skills training to lower corporate tax to make the economy more competitive and in turn make population growth more sustainable.
Ms Gillard will use a speech in Brisbane to outline a plan in which assistance to trade-exposed industries, such as steel and aluminium, under a future carbon policy would be assessed on the basis of 2007 emissions.
The so-called early choice initiative, which is similar to a measure endorsed by former Liberal prime minister John Howard, aims to reward big polluters that reduce their carbon pollution below 2007 levels while punishing companies that allow their emissions intensity to grow.
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