Top Australia companies deceiving government on carbon emissions

Six of Australia's biggest corporate polluters may be in the dock for misleading or deceptive conduct in making untrue public statements on climate change policy, which could have netted them an additional $896 million as compensation under Australia's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

Mining giant Rio Tinto, coal miner Xstrata, oil refiner Caltex Australia, petroleum products company Woodside, the country's largest steelmaker BlueScope Steel and building products maker Boral are the six companies named in the complaint filed by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Australian Climate Justice Program (ACJP) with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The ACF and the ACJP have asked the ACCC to investigate whether these six companies have engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct while making public statements on climate change policy in order to get extra compensation from the Australian government.

"Some of Australia's biggest corporate polluters appear to be presenting the worst case to government and the public in an effort to gain excessive free permits, while presenting the best case to investors, in order to keep their share prices up," ACF executive director Don Henry said yesterday in a statement.

Many Australian companies have criticised the proposed CPRS legislation, saying that the legislation would affect jobs, increase operating cost as well as create imbalanced competition with those companies, which do not come under the law in some states.

Australian companies have also complained that energy and mining companies in Australia will become less competitive globally since many countries are not subject to this law. (See: Environment initiative will hit economy, jobs warn Australian industry leaders) 

Rio Tinto has gone on record to say that the company's operating cost would be increased by $430 million over the first decade after the introduction of the CPRS. (See: Australian government's carbon trading scheme draws flak from Rio) 

According to the ACF estimates, these six companies, which are the biggest polluters in Australia, will stand to gain $896 million in added compensation under the government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), which is scheduled to commence in 2011.

The CPRS, aimed to reduce Australia's carbon emissions and the Australian government is to introduce the CPRS legislation to the Senate next week after a long delay but the Labour government led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will face an uphill struggle to get the bill passed into law.

The ACF, said that recent analysis by RiskMetrics shows that the government would be doling out A$16.4 billion as compensation in the next five years to the big polluting companies with 20 companies alone getting about A$11.7 billion after the CPRS is introduced.

ACF sets out 14 instances in which six corporations have made statements about the impacts of the government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and it alleges that the statements made by these companies are exaggerated and contradictory when compared with the companies' disclosures to shareholders and independent analysis.

''It is reprehensible for corporations to be saying one thing to politicians and the public and something completely different to their shareholders,'' Henry said.

''Big polluters shouldn't get a free ride under the emissions trading scheme just because they've got the loudest voices,'' he added.

The ACCC confirmed having received the complaint but has not yet decided what steps to take.