A decision on a carbon tax in Australia must not harm the competitiveness of the food and grocery manufacturing industries, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) said last week.
Chief Executive Kate Carnell said AFGC would support the carbon tax so long it did not give other nations a competitive advantage over Australia.
“There must be a national consultative approach to a carbon tax without exposing industry to costs not faced by regional competitors, the best way we can do this is via a consumption-based model – similar to the Carmody approach* – rather than a production based approach.”
Food and grocery is Australia’s largest manufacturing sector, worth more than $100 billion annually in turn-over to the nation and accounts for 9 per cent of Australia’s international trade valued at $449 billion in 2008-09, according to AFGC.
Ms Carnell said increases in food and grocery imports of up to 40 per cent over the past five years had placed pressure on manufacturers to consider alternative locations overseas.
“Under the Government’s previous consumption-based emissions approach, from the farm to the fork, there would have been increased costs, resulting in higher prices,” Ms Carnell said.
“Ultimately, industry wants an emissions reduction approach that will help maintain industry competitiveness, thereby safeguarding communities, jobs and families – and the future of a robust and growing food and grocery manufacturing sector in Australia.”
* Geoff Carmody is the director of Geoff Carmody & Associates, a co-founder of Access Economics and author of Effective Climate Change Policy: the Seven Cs.