The ‘500 polluters’ tagline has proved popular amongst the commentariat for explaining the reduced coverage of the Gillard Government’s carbon price mechanism, however, this is only part of the story.

An ‘equivalent carbon price’ will also be placed on many transport fuels via changes to the fuel tax credit and excise and customs duty laws, and this change (which is additional to the carbon pricing mechanism) promises to cast the net of direct liability much wider than just the 500 biggest polluters.