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Shying away

australia has rejected a proposal to introduce carbon tax for curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases. The proposal was made by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd), whose officials felt that Australia could use economic measures to prevent environmental degradation. But the suggestion met with severe opposition in Australia, which has an economy reliant on fossil fuels. "The tax would hamper government's aim of building the economy in a low-tax environment,' said Robert Hill, the country's environment minister. "Imposing such taxes would lead to economic disadvantages and a lesser capability of dealing with environmental problems. The oecd proposal is Euro-centric,' added Hill. According to him, even in Europe the tax is not as readily accepted now as it was in the past.

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