Leave ethanol alone, says Truss
29th April, 2008
Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, has called on the Federal Government to leave the ethanol industry alone in its 2008 Budget.Mr Truss said he was alarmed at reports that Rudd Labor intends to strip away the encouragement initiatives the previous Coalition Government had introduced for ethanol production.
“While State Labor Governments have given lip service to ethanol industries in their states, the Federal Labor Party has run a decade-long vendetta against the industry,” Mr Truss said.
“One of the Rudd Government’s earliest initiatives was to strip $16 million from the Ethanol Production Subsidy and the Ethanol Distribution Program.
“Now excise concessions on green fuel are being threatened. As a result, investment in new ethanol production facilities has stalled and the fuel companies are looking for excuses to get out of their bio-fuel commitments.
“The Coalition government pledged that ethanol and other bio-fuels would contribute 350 million litres to the nation’s fuel use by 2010. We were on target to achieve that objective when the government changed.
“Fuel companies have made a real effort to increase the number of petrol stations offering E10 partly because of the $20,000 subsidy offered by the previous government to install pumps and other E10 equipment.
“Labor’s credentials on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions are on trial. Labor will have failed the green fuel test if it merely relies on fuel tax increases through a carbon emissions trading scheme to reduce greenhouse emissions. It will prove Labor is only interested in higher taxes – not a cooler planet. If the Government is serious about addressing global warming issues, it must support a vibrant and expanding bio-fuels industry in Australia.”
Mr Truss rejected suggestions that bio-fuels were responsible for the increase in the price of food in Australia. Most Australian ethanol is produced as a by-product of the food industry and therefore is more likely to reduce the price of food than increase it.
Those who are concerned about the loss of farmland for food production should be more concerned about plans for wholesale tree planting for carbon sinks rather than land use for ethanol. If prime agricultural land is to be used for planting forests, farm productivity and food production will decline.
“Australia must play its part in ensuring that a cool planet is not also a starving planet.
“Bio-fuels can make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. Major investment decisions require long-term certainty and it is high time that Rudd Labor made the necessary public commitments to enable the industry to continue its expansion,” Mr Truss said.
