Julia Gillard has come under fire from many Australians today with her announcement of the ALP’s Climate Change policy, but the author behind a recent survey on green jobs, business & climate change has offered strong support to the policy.
Matthew Tukaki, who is also the former Head of the nation’s largest employment company Drake Australia, has said that the response may fall short of consumer and individual voter demands, but the approach of getting the framework right is sensible:
“Our recent survey, released just prior to the election being called, did indicate that while business generally accepted that an ETS was inevitable, there was just not enough understanding about what an ETS would mean to them or what the implications would be for their specific industry sector.
- 64% of respondents are not clear on what the impacts of an Emissions Trading Scheme or a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will be on them (or their industry)
- 78% of respondents believe that not enough is being done to explain the key policies or their potential impacts
- 63% of respondents believe that the Australian economy does not have the adequate number of green skills to manage an ETS implementation or its aftermath
- 59% of organisations are moving ahead with the implementation of their own carbon reduction programs
- 76% of respondents also don’t understand or are confused by what the Opposition means as direct action
So, for business this is a good outcome because it provides time to build the necessary awareness around impacts and implications, as well as begin the mapping process for what skills will be required in the economy and where those skills will come from.” Mr Tukaki said
“I think we need to be clear and understand that without that awareness and understanding around implications, without the important elements of defining what skills will be required and where they come from, you run the risk of implementing a framework that will fail at the first outing. You cannot simply set a price on carbon and then re-engineer the back end of an economy, you have to prepare it first.” Mr Tukaki said