Think emissions, think elections

Think emissions, think elections | The Courier-Mail

The most important guide is the starting date of the carbon pollution reduction scheme, as the emissions trading regime is now called, which is intended to be on July 1, 2010.
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The most significant indications this is the most preferred timing are the soft start for emissions trading and the petrol tax holiday of at least three years.

The front end of the trading scheme is full of free rides and concessional treatment for some businesses, and also feature the heaviest compensation for low-income earners.

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So, if Rudd will not consider an election in 2011 and he remains inclined to have a "normal" poll for half the Senate and the House of Representatives, the earliest possible date is Saturday, August 7, 2010, for an election called on or just after July 1 that year.

The reason this is the earliest date is because the term for senators elected in 2004 – the next group up for re-election – expires on June 30, 2011, and they must go to the polls in the 12 months before that date.

Also, the emissions trading scheme would have been operating for just five weeks (without any impact on petrol) and people would not have received their first post-low carbon era household energy bill.