Search

Export controls on wood and wood chips are for the purpose of protecting environmental and heritage values

Australia's latest annual Tax Expenditures Statement identifies 337 (about 270 in 2005) tax expenditures provided in 2009 by the Commonwealth Government to benefit a specified activity or class of taxpayer: including 4 to natural resources and 5 (as from 1 July 2011) to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, whose introduction was deferred until after the end of the current Kyoto Period in 2012 and when certain international conditions are met, while tax expenditures for fuel and energy are to decline progressively as a result of the phasing-in of an excise on alternative fuels from 1 July 2011 and the abolition of the exemption from crude oil excise of condensate as of 13 May 2008

Between 2006 and 2009, fuel excise credits of more than $A 3 million per year were available to businesses that are large energy users, on the condition that they joined the Greenhouse Challenge Plus Programme, which ceased on 30 June 2009

The ACCC granted authorization to 35 arrangements covering a wide range of industries, including recycling programmes aimed at reducing waste from agricultural and veterinary chemicals

Sectoral policy developments have focused largely on drought relief, water and land management, biodiversity, and climate change

The Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund supports innovative forestry research projects focusing on climate change adaptation and mitigation, along with the development of sustainable bio -energy initiatives, hile the National Climate Change and Commercial Forestry Action Plan 2009-12 identified knowledge gaps and proposed actions to assist forest industries to respond to climate change

Legislation was before the Parliament in November 2010 making it an offence to import any products of illegally harvested timber, as well as a code of conduct requiring suppliers who first place timber into the Australian market to carry out proper tests to ensure wood entering the country is legal, which will be supported by the use of a trade description to give consumers confidence that they are purchasing legal wood

A policy has been put in place to address the profitability and sustainability of Australian fisheries by stopping overfishing, allowing overfished stocks to recover, and promoting the longer term profitability of the fishing industry as well as by preventing, deterring and eliminating illegal fishing and unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing

Specific budgetary assistance to the mining sector was delivered through the National Low Emissions Coal Initiative, with minimal amounts channelled through the Renewable Energy Development Initiative

A National Strategy on Energy Efficiency is being implemented and renewable power generation has been the focus of government policy and assistance to the sector