Rein in fossil fuel tax concessions, Labor MP says after BHP revelations

The Labor MP Jerome Laxale says it’s “reasonable to expect more” from mining giants, breaking ranks to publicly back changes to the generous tax concessions blamed for holding back decarbonisation after revelations BHP delayed major projects to cut emissions. Labor’s grassroots environment action group has also renewed calls to wind back the diesel fuel rebate following an exclusive investigation by the Guardian and the ABC, which revealed BHP scrapped a project to significantly reduce global emissions , delayed vast renewables projects in the Pilbara and war-gamed options to push the electrification of its polluting diesel truck and train fleets into the next two decades. Experts and analysts say the slowdown in BHP’s decarbonisation progress shows the failure of a key climate policy, the safeguard mechanism , and the influence of the diesel tax break the federal government gives to big miners including BHP. Analysis provided to the Guardian suggests BHP paid less than $9m under the safeguard mechanism for its excess emissions last financial year. At the same time, the analysis suggests it received $622m in fuel tax credits from the federal government for its use of diesel, including about $379m for its Western Australia iron ore mines. BHP’s use of diesel is a major contributor to its emissions. …