Emissions trading task force not stacked: ACCI.


The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has defended the make-up of the task force set up to advise the Prime Minister on a possible global carbon emissions trading system.
Twelve people from industry and government have been appointed to the task force.
Green groups say representatives from the alternative energy sector should have been included.
But ACCI chairman Peter Hendy has welcomed the task force membership.
"Some people will say the Government's stacked it with people he [John Howard] knows he can get the answer from," he said.
"That's not the way I see it.
"I think this is very unusual, ... what he seems to have done, he's picked the real heavyweight policy advisers in this country."
Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy spokesman Rick Brazzale is not convinced the task force membership is appropriate.
"Looking at the nature of the organisations on the task group, I think there are none of them that would really stand to benefit from Australia entering into an emissions trading scheme and that's a really important perspective," he said.
In other developments:
The Greens are unimpressed by a new prime ministerial task force to investigate Australia's potential role in a global emissions trading system. (Full Story)
Prime Minister John Howard has announced a task force to investigate the role Australia might play in any global emissions trading system. (Full Story+