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I must say, I was a little disappointed about yesterday's announcement of a 5% target for Australia's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.  I thought that with the Garnaut Review's fairly dire warnings, we might want to aim a little higher.  But I'm also a realist and understand why the government has come to that decision in the current climate (no pun intended!)

The thing I really have trouble with is the handouts for our biggest polluters, coupled with financial relief for 'working families'.  Do people really change their behaviour if there are no consequences for maintaining the status quo?  A family whose power bill goes up but who receive a similar amount in family tax benefits are less likely to change their energy usage. Why fix something that isn't broke?  Therefore the whole justification for introducing the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme - that is, to reduce carbon emissions - is a false one, and we won't be reducing carbon pollution at all!

We have become a nation of 'gimmes' - a generation of people who are used to receiving welfare of some sort whom elected officials are reluctant to tick off by cutting off access to 'bonus' payments.  It would be a brave politician who wanted to simplify things by cutting both taxes and benefits.

As former Assistant Treasurer Peter Dutton once explained to me - it is about cash flow.  Money coming to the government in taxes and then handed out again through bonuses, benefits and breaks.  I had hoped that this government might be different......