Analyses the current levels of spending on greenhouse programs by the Australian Government with a view to relating this spending to the task of meeting the Kyoto Protocol target; comparing the levels of spending in Australia with that of other developed countries; discussing the role of spending on renewable energy technology and drawing conclusions on

Climate change is expected to have severe adverse impacts on the majority of Commonwealth countries, especially developing country members. Australia has displayed a callous disregard for the future well-being of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the Commonwealth.

A report last year by the Allen Consulting Group has played a pivotal role in reinforcing perceptions that cutting greenhouse gases would result in large economic costs and extensive job losses, especially in regional and rural Australia. The first part of this paper exposes a number of serious errors in the Allen Consulting report on