The federal integrity commission will be looking at malfeasance and waste great and small. It could do worse to examine – and clarify – the cost to Australians of the planet-imperilling industries, particularly coal and gas.
The cost is a recurring target of the Greens, who campaign against what leader Adam Bandt terms ”$10 billion subsidies”. That sort of scratch could certainly benefit the budget bottom line.
Whether that 10 bill is all subsidies is a matter for debate. ABC FactCheck concluded that In order to approach anything like $10 billion per year, fossil fuel subsidies would need to include fuel tax credits – but the extent to which these might be considered a “subsidy” is contested. ”The argument boils down to whether credits provide a benefit or remove a penalty,” the ABC states.
Obviously the exports of those commodities put a roof over many heads. But even if the subsidies are not as bad as Bandt claims, there must be winkles, wrinkles – and rorts. Over to you, commissioners.