Here are the questions posed for the panel so far:
Organisers do not guarantee that any question will be read to the panel. The questions asked will depend on time available, the number of questions from members of the live audience, the topics and directions taken in the forum on the day and the clarity and relevence of your question. In fairness to all involved, additional questions from the same person will not necessarily be included.
This question is for John Thwaites. As the Grand Prix. Corporation says that the temporary circuit for the GP event in Albert Park involves the trucking of 40,000 tonnes of race infrastructure over 66,000 kilometres, can he suggest an appropriate carbon tax for the event?
Peter | Middle Park
What do you say to a climate change denier who claims that the science is exaggerated, rather than untrue, and for that reason a carbon tax is not needed?
John | St Kilda
Can the panel tell us whether Elwood and Albert Park, originally swamps, might be flooded in 2040? If so, all the property owners should be encouraged to add their voice to the call for early action. Environmental groups should target these areas for support.
Alister | Malvern
Is the government losing the argument for a carbon price, because it has not widely advertised the basic facts, and the expected effects? Have they allowed the opposition to stress only the cost of eliminating green house gases, ignoring the greater costs of doing nothing?
Alister | Malvern
Can the panel tell us whether Elwood and Albert Park, originally swamps, might be flooded in 2040? If so, all the property owners should be encouraged to add their voice to the call for early action. Environmental groups should target these areas for support.
Alister | Malvern
Tony Abbot says he would repeal a carbon tax if he wins office at the next election. Would it be possible for the coalition to do such and what would the implications be?
Ian Onley | Sale
I have been trying to explain the impact that a Carbon Price (as I prefer to call it) would have. To me it means that it becomes expensive to import goods from abroad because of transport cost, therefore making Australian manufacture more sustainable, also marketing half empty boxes will become unsustainable, leading to smaller supermarkets as the average crisp packet and cereal packet decreases in size. It is the polluter who pays and assuming that the money goes back to the consumer with their energy consumption. Petrol would just go up which would reduce haulage which would mean things produced closer to home. Could I be completely wrong because wrongly handled, buying foreign carbon offsets might indirectly cause great harm, especially regarding deforestation and trees for fuel?
Sue | Surrey Hills
There is a strong economic case for a carbon tax to address climate change. What do the members of the panel think of the moral case for a tax, justifying action, regardless of the immediate cost, so that future generations can live in a safe climate as we have?
David | Middle Park
Given that: a) Too much CO2 in the atmosphere is harmful; b) The only destiny for coal is to be burnt, producing CO2; c) Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal, with ~25% of the market; then is Australia, by selling a harmful substance, acting like a drug baron? And would reducing coal exports be more effective in reducing global CO2 concentrations than putting a price on Australian carbon emissions?
Gary | Mt Waverley
A lot of carbon reduction programmes focus on supply side solutions. Do you think there is room or an appetite for demand side solutions at this stage?
Donald | St Kilda East
Will a $25 per ton carbon tax be enough to close Hazelwood and Yallourn power stations?
Donald | St Kilda East
Why don't the Greens and others support the idea of applying the proposed carbon tax to agriculture? After all, livestock are responsible for around 70% of the deforestation that's occurred in Australia since European settlement, including 78,000 sq km in Qld from 1988 to 2008. A carbon tax on agriculture would help direct consumers to sustainable foods and result in current grazing land becoming available for reforestation. Deforestation is just one of the many critical problems associated with animal agriculture.
Paul | Black Rock
Why aren't we putting a price, and a reducing cap, at the point where carbon enters the economy (e.g. via mining and imports), as well as where carbon exits the economy (e.g. via emissions)?
Gary | Mt Waverley
How can you as a Panel make it clear that this should not be defined as a 'carbon tax' - it is in fact a price that the big polluters in our country must pay to pollute our environment. They must be encouraged to move towards sustainable/renewable means of producing what they sell to us. Because the days of unmitigated pollution of our environment are over - if we expect to pass on to our children a world worth living in!
Marc | Fairfield
What do members of the panel think the carbon price should be? ▪ $25 per tonne that will encourage a coal to gas transition which will DOUBLE greenhouse gas pollution from electricity generation due to leaking methane which is 105 times worse that carbon dioxide. ▪ $70 per tonne to encourage wind power ▪ $200 per tonne to encourage concentrated solar thermal power investment ▪ $550 per tonne for a risk avoidance-based valuation of the estimated 10,000 Australian lives lost every year due to burning carbon.
David | Middle Park
Why do ordinary people get so angry when you discuss Climate Change?
Mary | Sandringham
Will the carbon tax alone cause the closure of Hazelwood and if not, what other legislation is required to make that happen?
David | Middle Park
With the weight of serious opinion solidly behind the greenhouse science and the media pretending that there is a debate how do we get to the point where the attack on reality is shown for the short sighted opportunism that it is?
Bob | St Kilda West
What is the difference between a carbon tax and emission trading scheme. (Genuine not just political or media hype)? What are the benefits of an ETS? Please make some comparisons between the two. Who will be most effected by an ETS? Will an ETS genuinely promote renewable energy and an associated industry in Australia? Will an ETS help preserve forests in places like Indonesia and PNG. If so how?
David | Albert Park
How and why will a carbon tax reduce emissions?
Laila | Brunswick East
Why is Zone 2 not removed completely and why is it that people whom travel further by public transport into the city instead of clogging the roads with their cars are they punished at least $10 a day to come in and out of the city? When do you believe public transport rationalization will be bought seriously into the carbon solution mix?
Peter | South Melbourne
I believe that we need to do something urgently about climate change, but I do not think that a carbon tax is the answer. Why do we need a carbon tax instead of other actions such as incentives?
Karen | Panton Hill
Why should industry be compensated when they will just pass the cost onto consumers and keep the profit ?
Bill | Blackburn
What strategies can we employ to take the current debate away from the short term scare of a tax, or job loss, or life style change to an important investment decision about the future of the us all. Generate informed discussion, debate and education without the playground jibes of the present generation of politicians who are entrusted with securing our future and seem concerned about power rather than strategy? The real scare is what does 4 degrees or more of warming really mean?
Mike | Albert Park
It seems like this tax is a way to make the people in power look like they are doing something about climate change. In my opinion, if some money was spent campaigning the need for each of us reducing our carbon emissions, it would produce a more cost effective outcome. We have been given the knowledge, but how many of us are implementing it?
Renee | Caulfield South
Revenue derived from the carbon tax will include compensation for electricity generating companies. What do members of of panel think about this? Shouldn't polluters be punished, not rewarded?
David | Middle Park
Why is it that pollies (government in particular) are not reminding us that climate change is going to cost every one of us dearly in future (and already has -- droughts, more severe weather events, loss of infrastructure and coastline)? Why do they let the opposition carry on about the 'cost' of a carbon tax without making the point that the alternative will cost us even more?
Pat | Port Melbourne
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