Ethanol policy may determine Australia's next government

In Australia, a federal election last week which resulted in a hung parliament may find that the choice of government depends on biofuels policy. According to Digest sources and local reports, a trio of independent, rural-based MPs based in New South Wales and Queensland holds the balance of power in the new parliament and has made support of rural development and biofuels a condition of support for the conservative and Labor parties vying to form the new government.

Independent MP Tony Windsor said: “Irrespective of if there is a trading mechanism or a price we really should be concentrating on renewable energy, the whole range of sources (including) ethanol, bio-fuels, second-generation bio-fuels from bio-mass, (these) are really important not only to the nation in terms of energy, or potentially globally in terms of carbon and methane et cetera, but very much in terms of the profitability of people living in regional areas.”

Independent MP Bob Katter, who has made support for ethanol expansion a condition of his support for a new government, said “In Brazil I filled up my motor car for 73c a litre. In South Dakota, 84c. Came back to Australia and it was 138c. Now wouldn’t every country want to fill up their car at that price ?” All three MPs are former members of the National (Country) Party, and left the party in part over disagreements over the extent to which the Nationals had protected rural interests while in coalition with the urban-based, conservative Liberal Party, which formed the government between 1996 and 2007.

More on the story.

The news coincided with an announcement by GM Holden that it has made flex-fuel versions of the V6 and V8 models in its VE Series II Commodore cars, the first Aussie-made E85 compatible vehicles. cline-up have been designed as the first Australian-made vehicles to run on bio-ethanol as well as conventional petrol.

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Tags: Australia, ethanol, Labor, Liberal

Category: International