In retrospect, one of the most demoralising aspects of the National party withdrawing support for the Emissions Trading Scheme currently dying a slow death in the New Zealand Parliament was the claim that we should wait for the Australians.
Why? We could be waiting a long time.
Australian politicians have yet to face the hard choices on an Emissions Trading Scheme and the new government seems not much given to making hard choices. If the Australian government thinks it needs to be seen to put downward pressure petrol prices currently (and for those not paying attention it does), how long is the transport sector going to remain in the Australian ETS? What about the mining industry?
What if neither country has a meaningful emissions trading scheme in 2012?
The rumbling sound, by the way, is either rapidly growing disaffection with the idea of an ETS in Australian industry, or Ross Garnaut getting ready to finish his report, or both. I wouldn't want to be Penny Wong right now.
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