After being carried by a slender majority through the House of
Representatives in October, the Government's Clean Energy Bill
and package of 17 complimentary bills passed in the Senate on 8
November 2011.
The carbon tax will commence on 1 July 2012, at which point
Australia's top 500 polluters (those companies that emit more
than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year -
including methane, nitrous oxide, and perflourocarbon from
aluminium production) will be required to purchase carbon units
from the Office of the Clean Energy Regulator at a cost of $23 per
carbon unit per tonne.
Here, partner Michele Muscillo and solicitor Ben Ricketts
outline what businesses need to know about the carbon tax's
implementation.
