| Updated:
Australia unveils carbon tax
Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday revealed plans to tax carbon emissions from the nation’s worst polluters, with the largest emissions trade scheme outside Europe. The government said 500 companies including steel and aluminium manufacturers would pay a A$23 (£15) per tonne carbon tax from next year, rising by 2.5 per cent a year, moving to a market-based trading scheme in 2015. Gillard will now try to convince voters opposed to the plan ahead of a parliamentary vote, trying to deflect a campaign against it by the hardest hit businesses.