The Australian Senate today passed the bills repealing the Clean
Energy Act 2011, the centrepiece of the Australian carbon price
scheme that commenced on 1 July 2012.
The bills failed to pass the Senate last week, when the Palmer
United Party sought to introduce further penalties for price
exploitation in the bills. The Federal Government then amended the
bills and re-introduced them into Parliament, for a third time,
earlier this week.
Once the bills have received royal assent, the carbon tax repeal
and most other provisions will take effect from 1 July 2014.
Prohibitions on price exploitation in relation to the
carbon tax repeal
The repeal legislation includes several "price exploitation
provisions", inserting sections in the Competition and
Consumer Act 2010 that prohibit corporations from engaging in
"price exploitation in relation to the carbon tax repeal"
during the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015, in relation to the
supply of natural gas, electricity
