The Australia House of Representatives voted yesterday to repeal the nation’s carbon tax. The vote occurred just 18 months after the carbon tax took effect.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and members of his Liberal Party have made opposition to the carbon tax a key component of recent political campaigns. Abbott cast the Liberal Party’s victories in Australia’s September 7 elections as a referendum on the carbon tax.
The legislation to repeal the carbon tax also includes provisions to abolish governmental climate change bodies such as the Climate Change Authority and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
While the Australian House voted to repeal the carbon tax, Australia Environment Minister Greg Hunt declined to attend United Nations climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, this month, choosing instead to send a lower-ranking diplomat to the meetings. United Nations officials and environmental activists said the decision was an insult to the UN climate conference and the embodiment of the Australian government’s skepticism about the asserted global warming crisis.
The Australian Senate is expected to take up the carbon tax bill next month.
