CANBERRA—About 1,000 of the nation's biggest polluters will be required to purchase permits under the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS).
The Government on Wednesday will release a Green Paper on an ETS, which is likely to include a proposed model.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong today said the Government estimated about 1,000 Australian business would be required to take part in the scheme.
"The Government puts a limit on how much carbon pollution is permitted, we issue permits up to that limit for companies, and it is each of those permits which creates a price, therefore an incentive to reduce pollution," Senator Wong told ABC Television.
"We anticipate approximately ... 1,000 Australian companies will be required to take permits under this scheme.
"Obviously, we will focus primarily on the large polluters."
Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt accused Senator Wong of misleading the public by trying to make it appear as if only 1,000 companies would be affected by an ETS.
"This is a tax on everyone and everything," Mr Hunt said.
"There's a complete lack of honesty about the fact that these prices will be passed directly across to mum and dad, to pensioners, to low-income families."
Senator Wong said the opposition's policy position on climate change was still unclear.
Following a week of confusion, Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson yesterday agreed to support a scheme but said he wanted Australia to put more pressure on the world's largest polluters to follow suit.
Senator Wong said the Government was conscious of the rest of the world but was committed to a 2010 start-up date.
"This country has a very clear economic interest in a strong global agreement," she said.
"We have to push very strongly the international agreement, and we also have to implement an effective domestic policy."
Greens leader Bob Brown said Dr Nelson's approach was wrong, calling him a "frightened leader".
"We should be setting a lead for the Asia-Pacific region," Senator Brown told Network Ten.
"We lost it under the Howard Government and we need to gain it under the Rudd Government."
Meanwhile, a new report released today by the Make Poverty History coalition recommends Australia's immigration intake should include a quota for climate change refugees.
The group's co-chair James Ensor said there was growing concern within the aid community that people in developing countries were feeling the impact of climate change most acutely.
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