The Australian Government first released draft legislation on a carbon pollution
reduction scheme (i.e. an emissions trading scheme) for public comment in March
2009. The Government then set itself the ambitious target of finalising and passing
the legislation in 2009 with the first year of liability for emissions proposed to start on
1 July 2010 (Wong, 2009), however, the legislation was ultimately defeated in the
Senate in 2010. The Federal Treasury simultaneously was undertaking a major
review4 into the Australian tax system which was released by the Federal Government
in May 2010. The extent to which these activities have been co-ordinated is unclear.