Public money propping up fossil fuels. Each year, the Australian government spends billions of dollars of public money on programs that encourage more coal, gas and oil to be extracted and burned. Market Forces estimates that these tax-based fossil fuel subsidies amount to almost $11 billion per year federally. This figure includes subsidies that support both the production and consumption of fossil fuels.
But tax-based subsidies aren’t the only government financial support afforded to fossil fuels. Direct handouts and contributions to the fossil fuel industry are doled out at both federal and state levels. On top of this, public money is used to finance fossil fuels through our national export credit agency EFIC, as well as our involvement with international financial institutions. Australia has built a bad reputation as one of the world’s biggest supporters of the dirty fossil fuel industry, a point that was reiterated at the Paris climate talks when our delegates refused to sign an agreement that would phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Once again, our government put the interests of big polluters ahead of our environment, climate and health.
Click through the buttons below to find out more about the different ways the Australian government is using our money to prop up dirty fossil fuels. You can also sign the petition below, calling on the government to end polluter handouts. For more information about the US$452 billion worth of subsidies that support global fossil fuel production each year, check out the joint report from Oil Change International and Overseas Development Institute: Empty promises: G20 subsidies to oil, gas and coal production.