A real ‘intergenerational equity’ budget would address our unceasing environmental decline |
Last night, Labor unveiled a budget designed to tackle intergenerational equity in Australia through bold tax reform. It comes at a time where politics is consumed with the international shocks created by US President Donald Trump, whether through chaotic tariff announcements or the US-Israel war with Iran.
But there’s a larger intergenerational inequity in our overexploitation of the environment. The extent of greenhouse gas emissions, land clearing, and overfishing over the last 30 years will be a blight on future generations. More so each year we fail to address it seriously.
Our recent research provides evidence that worsening global weather conditions will have profound impacts on economic growth. It is also linked to our cost-of-living crisis through its effects on the productivity of agriculture, which determines the price of food.
So what’s in this year’s federal budget for the environment and energy?
Renewable energy in the budget
A day out from the budget, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher flagged less of a focus on climate action. This, she said, was because energy transition spending was becoming “unsustainable”.
Sure enough, any new initiatives to accelerate the decarbonisation of the Australian economy were........