Q. Which of the following actions on climate change do you most support?

30% think the carbon tax should be dumped and not replaced, 22% support replacing it with an emissions trading scheme, 12% prefer the Liberal’s “direct action” plan and 17% think the Government should keep the carbon tax. These figures have changed little since this question was asked in October.

Those most likely to support keeping the tax or changing to an emissions trading scheme were Labor voters (57%) and Greens voters (64%) and those with a university education (51%).

Those most likely to think the carbon tax should be dumped and not replaced were Liberal/National voters (44%) and those who had not completed secondary education (43%). Only 23% of Liberal/National voters preferred the Liberal’s “direct action” plan (down from 28% in October).

Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s recent decision to change from the current carbon pricing scheme to an emissions trading scheme which will reduce the price paid by companies from $24 per tonne of carbon pollution to a floating price currently about $6-$10?

45% support the recent decision to change from the current carbon pricing scheme to an emissions trading scheme and 29% oppose.

Both Labor (59% support) and Liberal/National (42%) voters were more likely to support the decision while 58% of Greens voters were opposed.

First Published on The Drum 19/10/2010

As the Federal Government attempts to quell the backlash to its plans to save the Murray Darling by slowing the process to a crawl, it would do well to consider the lessons of the recently aborted Emissions Trading Scheme.

If there were a structured training program for politicians (and maybe there should be) the former Rudd government’s failure to deliver on its commitment to address climate change would be a required text.

It is a story of how tortured process can kill off reform, confuse would-be supporters, drain the public of confidence in their government and ultimately leave leaders in a no-win situation.

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Q. How important for Australia do you think it is for the new Labor Government to move quickly to implement an emissions trading scheme or some other scheme (such as a tax on carbon) to address climate change?

37% of people think it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

54% of Labor voters, compared with 20% of Lib/Nat voters think it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change. 72% of Green voters think it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

48% of those aged 18-24, compared with 26% of those aged 65+ it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

42% of Victorians, compared with 30% of Queenslanders it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

There was no significant difference between the genders.

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Q. The Federal Government says placing a price on carbon is crucial to addressing climate change as there must be a strong incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors to achieve the cuts necessary. The Opposition says the Government’s plan to include a price on carbon as part of its proposed emissions trading scheme is nothing more than a new tax. Do you agree more with the Government or more with the Opposition?

 Just under half (48%) of those surveyed agree with the Opposition’s view that the Government’s plan to include a price on carbon as part of its proposed emissions trading scheme is nothing more than a new tax.   30% agree with the Federal Government’s view that placing a price on carbon is crucial to addressing climate change as there must be a strong incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors to achieve the cuts necessary.  Just under one quarter (24%) don’t know whether they agree with the Government or the Opposition on the issue of placing a price on carbon. 

 Labor voters were more likely to agree with the Government’s view (58%) while Coalition voters were more likely to agree with the Opposition (78%).  22% of Labor voters agree with the Opposition’s view that placing a price on carbon is nothing more than a new tax. 

 44% of Green voters agree with the Government and 37% of these same voters agree with the Opposition.  

 Males were more likely to agree with the Government (34%) while females were more likely to indicate they don’t know (28%).

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to agree with the Opposition’s view on the issue (60%) while those aged 18 – 24 were more likely to agree with the Government (38%). Comments »

Q. Thinking about climate change, the Government says legislation for an emissions trading scheme needs to be passed before the world summit on climate change being held in Copenhagen in December. The Opposition says Australia should delay making any decisions on an emissions trading scheme until after the world summit. Who do you agree with most?

33% of people surveyed agree with the Government’s view that legislation for an emissions trading scheme needs to be passed before the world summit on climate change being held in Copenhagen in December.  38% agree with the view of the Opposition in that Australia should delay making any decisions on an emissions trading scheme until after the world summit, and 29% don’t know.

The number of people that agree with the view of the Opposition has increased slightly (+2%) since we last asked this question in June, while the number of those that agree with the Government has stayed the same.

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to agree with the view of the Opposition’s view that the introduction of an emissions trading scheme should wait until after the world summit (55%), while people aged 34 years or less were more likely to agree with the Government’s view regarding the introduction of the scheme before the world summit (38%).

Males were more likely than females to agree with the view of the Opposition on this issue (44% v 34%).

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