Is a compromised CPRS any better?

The Coalition is now negotiating with the Government to try to amend the CPRS legislation to, among other things, include more protection for agriculture, natural gas, aluminium refining, coal mining and food processing.

The problem is that the scheme will still exist, and still have the same target.  That means that those industries that aren't getting extra protection will have to cut more.

The key point though is that the more that certain emitters are protected or exempted, the greater the cuts that have to be achieved by everyone, everything, else. And that overall cut having to be got from a smaller base has just blown out 27-29 per cent per person!

We can make as many amendments as we want, but because the CPRS is, fundamentally, an attack on the Australian economy, such amendments aren't going to make a big difference.  Amendments will just change which parts of the economy suffer the most damage.  They can't stop the damage.  The only way to do that is scrap the thing.