Foreign firms 'get billions under ETS'
Foreign companies stand to net billions of dollars in assistance payments from the federal government under Labor's proposed emissions trading scheme, the Australian Greens say.
The Greens have released research showing more than $11 billion in commonwealth assistance will flow to companies that are either wholly or partially foreign owned in the first five years of the scheme.
More than 80 per cent, or $3.2 billion, of the compensation being paid to coal-fired electricity generators will go to foreign companies, the Greens say.
Greens senator Christine Milne said the research showed that billions of dollars in taxpayers' money was set to flow overseas to companies based in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The owners of the Hazelwood power station in Victoria, UK International Power, are set to receive some $1.1 billion in assistance alone, Senator Milne said.
The release of the research comes as a poll reveals three out of four Australians want the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation toughened up.
The Galaxy Research poll of 1,100 Australians showed that 75 per cent want the Senate to insist on amendments that imposed tougher conditions on polluting industries.
The poll, conducted between July 24 and July 26, showed just 13 per cent of people thought the CPRS legislation was adequate.