“The Climate Commission’s grand plan is already going awry, because, as the Russians will admit, it’s too hard to plan an entire economy,” says ACT Climate Change spokesperson Simon Court.
“Today’s deadline extension will be the first of many problems for our climate central planners.
“It was ACT that lifted the lid on fifteen industry groups feeling compelled to write to Rod Carr, saying if he couldn’t provide the data his Commission’s assumptions were based on, they wouldn’t be able to make meaningful submissions to his group’s master plan for the economy.
“So of course the Commission had to extend the deadline for submissions.
“But it won’t get any easier from here.
“The Commission’s work, and whatever advice this Government chooses to adopt, simply won’t work.
“You can’t force whole industries into measures that simply aren’t viable.
“Rather than banning things and creating sector-wide rules, ACT says the Emissions Trading Scheme should be set free to work the way it’s meant to.
“Honest prices on emissions allow people to make rational decisions about whether to use lower emission alternatives.
“Give people the information to decide whether to wear the cost of emitting, and give them the ability to invest in clean alternatives to get credits on the other side of the equation.
“Markets work, that’s proven.
“Central planning doesn’t. History has proven that, too.”