French mentioned ACIL Tasman’s research, which said the scheme would force the closure of 16 mines in the country and put up to 10,000 Australians out of work.
While he said he did not dispute the need for the scheme, he was disputing the design.
French argued the case that the CPRS should have transitional modification by including a phased auctioning approach or by including coal in the Emissions-Intensive Trade-Exposed assistance program.
“Why is it that when the European Union offers its industry more than 85 per cent free permits as a transitional assistance, Australian industry will receive less than 30 per cent free permits?” he asked.
“It appears all other trading schemes seek to protect national industries, while the Australian scheme does the opposite.”
Anglo has already shed 650 jobs from its Australian operations this year, but French can see more job losses in the coal sector from the scheme.
“As a CEO of a coal company I operate in the real economy, employing thousands of real people in regional communities who stand to lose their jobs because of this scheme,” he said.
“If this scheme had been introduced five years ago, it would have wiped out 60 per cent of ACA’s pre-tax profits.
“The coal industry supports the employment of more than 130,000 people in regional Australia and generates more than 80 per cent of the country’s electricity. This scheme will wipe out around 10 per cent of these jobs in a few short years.
“We need to steer the economy through these challenging times, not crash land it.”
On the other side of the fence, Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union national president Tony Maher views the opposition parties’ decision to block the CPRS legislation in the Senate as “putting at risk the future of more than 100,000 coal mining jobs”
While the federal Labor government is seeking to pass the legislation next month, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that all non-Labor senators are not keen to support the current version of the scheme by this deadline.
The Australian Greens view the legislation as too weak, the Coalition and Family First Senator Steve Fielding reportedly want the vote pushed back until early next year, while independent senator Nick Xenophon wants it delayed until September.
