Australia’s controversial carbon price added more than $4 billion to the federal government Treasury last year.
The first annual tally of liabilities under the fixed price Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), just released by the Clean Energy Regulator, was largely as forecast.
The figures show that just over $4.1 billion was received in 2012/13, about $1.2 billion less than expected, but that amount excludes free permits worth another $2.4bn.
AAP Newsagency reports the Clean Energy Regulator reported that 350 companies and local councils liable for the carbon price of $23 a tonne of emissions surrendered $6.531 billion in permits, with the seven biggest electricity producers each paying more than $250 million.
However, because the former Labor government provided 132 of these liable entities with more than 104 million free permits, valued at just over $2.395 billion, the net figure came to $4.14 billion.
The Labor government originally expected the gross figure to be $7.7 billion in carbon price revenue.
The conservative Liberal-National government seized on the sheer scale of the figures to increase pressure on Labor to ”get out of the way” of its election promise to abolish the impost, which is expected to bring in more than $7bn next year.
Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten and the Australian Greens Party have so far blocked the government’s carbon law repeal bills in the upper house Senate.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the ”hit on the economy” from the impost was worse than Labor had predicted when it introduced the ETS in July 2012.
When the carbon price was introduced Labor also introduced a package of offsets to compensate consumers for any price increases as a result.
Five power companies, Macquarie Generation, Great Energy Alliance, Delta Electricity, National Power Australia and Stanwell, accounted for almost half of the revenue, or $2.03 billion.
Four companies were singled out as not having paid their share, including billionaire mining magnate and federal MP Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel which the CER listed as owing over $6 million of impost.
Mr Palmer is challenging the company’s carbon price liability in the High Court.
Climate Institute chief John Connor said the carbon price scheme was working to bring down emissions.
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The government’s own data estimates the carbon laws will reduce pollution by almost 40 million tonnes by July 2014,” Mr Connor told AAP.
“The laws make big polluters take responsibility for their pollution, repeal will just return them to an entitlement to pollute for free and access a taxpayer subsidy should they wish to take some action.”
Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the carbon price was an attack on the entire Australian economy.
“Despite a $7.6 billion tax, emissions for the first 12 months barely changed by 0.1 per cent,” he said.
Manufacturing was hit $1.1 billion, putting pressure on jobs, he said.
A further $1 billion hit business through reduced fuels tax credits, and through charges on the refrigeration and aviation industries.
