Emissions reduction fund: Shorten says Labor government would scrap scheme

Labor leader promises to dismantle Coalition scheme that he says gives 'great wads of taxpayer cash to big polluters to keep polluting'

Bill Shorten will "axe" Tony Abbott's emissions reduction fund if he wins next year's federal election, gaining budget savings of up to $4.3bn over a decade.

Shorten will promise to honour contracts already signed with polluters by the Coalition but will then abandon the scheme, which he describes as "a waste of money built on one counter-productive idea: giving great wads of taxpayer cash to big polluters to keep polluting".