Australian farmers have opposed a carbon tax to curb greenhouse gas emissions and announced their support to prime minister John Howard's national emissions trading scheme.
In a submission to the prime minister's taskforce on emission trading, the National Farmers Federation (nff) has said that under the scheme, farmers should be paid for good environmental management. Howard, who has refused to ratify Kyoto Protocol, is opposed to carbon tax and has set up a task force to investigate the role Australia might play in global emissions trading system.
The Productivity Commission--the government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation--advocates carbon tax as a transitional step to cut greenhouse gases. It will increase productivity and make agriculture less competitive internationally, says the commission. nff says farming has the potential to sequester carbon emissions and under any emission policy, government should recognise farmers' contribution.
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