According to a legal opinion by Bryan Pape, commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs, the carbon tax is unconstitutional and could be challenged on a number of grounds, including:
- The Commonwealth cannot tax state property (legally carbon dioxide emissions are state property).
- The Commonwealth cannot impose a carbon tax and other related penalties within the same Act (does not deal with a single subject of taxation).
- The Commonwealth cannot introduce a carbon tax within its external affairs powers.
The Institute said that, pending a possible legal challenge to the tax, the full legal opinion will not be released. It said a copy of the opinion has been provided to state governments “with the best legal standing for a potential challenge” being NSW, Qld and WA.
Source: IPA media release, 10 April 2012
[LTN 67, 10/4]