A carbon trading scheme on its own will not reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, federal opposition frontbencher Ian Macfarlane says.
Shadow cabinet is meeting in Canberra today to thrash out the opposition climate change policy, hoping to settle a split over whether emissions trading should start by 2012, or be delayed until big-emitting nations take action.
The meeting coincides with new polling showing a majority of voters backing the Rudd government's plan for for emissions trading and a 2010 start date.
A Galaxy survey, commissioned by the Climate Institute, found 80 per cent backed an emissions trading scheme and just 13 per cent opposed it. More than two-thirds of respondents wanted trading to start in 2010 or before.
Mr Macfarlane, the opposition's trade spokesman, said today everyone in Australia wanted to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
"But I don't think everyone in Australia wants action that simply sees Australian jobs and industries go overseas," he told reporters.
The trading scheme alone would not lower Australia's emissions and nothing would happen unless other countries went through the same process, he said.
"Without the technology, without the lowering of the baseload electricity generation emissions, without transport emissions being lowered, without the industry emissions being lowered, nothing will happen."
The Shergold report, commissioned by the previous Howard government, recommended that new industries which operated at world's best practice or better be given carbon credits, Mr Macfarlane said.
That meant new industries could come in and invest in Australia.
"Under the Rudd plan that won't happen and industry simply won't come here and jobs will be lost to China," Mr McFarlane said.
Mr Macfarlane predicted the coalition would offer an alternative plan to carbon emissions.
