Subsidising Big Coal: Handouts to Australia’s biggest coal mining companies through the Fuel Tax Credits Scheme and our budget submission Budget ’15 gives the government a stark choice: back big polluters or the people.

Hi NEVILLE

Five bad ideas and five good ideas — what’s your pick?

Every year, our government hands out billions of dollars to big polluting companies through tax breaks and subsidies.

While the rest of the world takes steps to cut pollution, our government lets these giants pollute with abandon. Even worse, it actually pays them to pollute.

Right now, Joe Hockey is busy looking for ways to save the government money. Next week he’ll hand over the Federal Budget.

Five really bad ways to spend public money in the Federal Budget:

1. Pay Glencore Xstrata $109 million to pollute.
2. Pay BHP Billiton $93 million to pollute.
3. Pay Peabody $58 million to pollute.
4. Pay Rio Tinto $57 million to pollute.
5. Pay Anglo American $49 million to pollute.

Cutting handouts to Big Coal and other polluters will save the Budget $15 billion over four years.

Fifteen billion goes a long way. Just think of all the ways that money could make Australia a better place:

Five really good ways to spend public money in the Federal Budget:

1. Cut pollution with smart rules that make polluters pay and invest in clean energy.
2. Fund Indigenous rangers to look after country.
3. Protect the water catchments that provide our drinking water.
4. Create a threatened species recovery fund.
5. Formally require governments to consider the environment in decision making.

Fifty thousand reasons to speak out and not stay silent at budget time

Our government has a duty of care to protect life. 42,859 people have already signed our petition with one simple message to Treasurer Joe Hockey: Put an end to big polluter handouts. Let’s make it 50,000. Will you add your name NEVILLE?

Sign the petition:

TO: Treasurer Joe Hockey

“Put an end to big polluter handouts.”

 

sign the petition in one click

Thank you,

Kelly

Kelly O’Shanassy
CEO
Australian Conservation Foundation

P.S. Want all the details? Read ACF’s research: Subsidising Big Coal: Handouts to Australia’s biggest coal mining companies through the Fuel Tax Credits Scheme and our budget submission Budget ’15 gives the government a stark choice: back big polluters or the people.