The Abbott government's climate change policy seems to be driven by two motives. They know that voters will reward them for lowering prices or taxes, regardless of the merits of the case. They also seem to want to reward big business, their principle financial supporters.
Prior to the Carbon Tax the Renewable Energy Target (RET's) was the principle climate change policy of Australia. The RET policy is 20% of electricity is to be generated from renewable sources by 2020. This policy requires subsidy from government as renewable energy currently costs more than energy from fossil fuel.
The Abbott government will almost certainly reduce the renewable energy requirement. However they have little support from the public for this as The Guardian reports below.
RET's are an important environmental policy and should be understood at VCE. It is a legitimate alternative policy to talk about in the exam and can be easier to describe than carbon pricing.
A useful statistic for those interested in climate change. Australia produces FIVE times as much carbon per person as their fair share (i.e. divide world CO2 emissions by 7 billion and multiply by 23.5 million to get the 'fair share' for Australia).
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