Ecological Tax Reform in Australia: Using taxes and public spending to protect the environment without hurting the economy

While there is firm public support for stronger environmental protection, action on these issues in the past has been seriously constrained by the belief by governments that protecting the environment will have large economic costs. Ecological tax reform shows this need not be the case by arguing that carefully devised measures can both protect the environment and stimulate job growth. This paper compares two scenarios over the period 1997-2020 - the Business as Usual scenario and the Ecological Tax Reform scenario. The impacts on a range of environmental, economic and social equity indicators are evaluated.