The Australian Treasury modelling has revealed that the proposed Labor carbon tax, starting in 2012, will have a $30 a tonne price.

What does that mean to us ?

Without going into too much detail, the bottom line is about an extra $16.60 per week, or $863 a year.

However, they are also discussing a fuel tax concession, which would bring the first figures down to $11.70 per week, or $608 a year.

Wayne Swan (Treasurer) and Greg Hunt (Climate Change Minister) have stated that these figures have only been submitted to promote discussion within the government. There have been No final decisions on the carbon tax price or on the concessions to be allowed.

How will it affect the country?

If every country in the world does the same, there will be no real problems, but it is my guess that those countries that choose NOT to follow this path will end up with an economic advantage over the others that do it.

France for example had a carbon tax in the pipeline, but read this report…

23 Mar 2010
President Nicolas Sarkozy scrapped the country’s proposed carbon tax.
The government said its energy tax was being postponed indefinitely in order not to “damage the competitiveness of French companies”, fearing that it would be too risky for France to go it alone without the rest of the EU.
Source: Daily Telegraph

Which Countries have enacted a Carbon Tax?

Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, India and Italy.

I have also found these two areas:

San Francisco Bay: 4.4 cents per ton, beginning in 2008.
British Columbia, Canada: $30 per tonne from 2012.

One comment on the British Columbia Carbon Tax was that it is: “the most significant carbon tax in the Western Hemisphere”

The tax started on July 1, 2008 at a rate of $10 (Canadian) per metric ton of carbon dioxide, and rises by $5/tonne annually to reach $30 per tonne of CO2 in 2012. The first and second increases kicked in on July 1, 2009 and 2010, bringing the tax rate to $20/tonne. The carbon tax revenues are being returned to taxpayers through personal income and business income tax cuts.
Source: www.carbontax.org/progress/where-carbon-is-taxed

It seems that Australia is looking at this highest cost as a discussion starting point.