Senate kills off emissions trade laws
Posted
Updated
Rebels with a cause: Liberal senators Judith Troeth and Susan Boyce (r) vote with the Government (AAP : Alan Porritt)
Opposition and crossbench senators have handed the Government a trigger for an early election on climate change by voting down its emissions trading scheme for the second time.
Liberal Senators Sue Boyce and Judith Troeth defied new Liberal leader Tony Abbott and crossed the floor to vote with the Government this morning.
But it was not enough to push the scheme through, with the Greens, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, and Family First Senator Steve Fielding joining the Opposition in voting down the scheme.
Hopes of getting the legislation through were dashed yesterday when Mr Abbott reversed the Coalition's position as his first act after ousting Malcolm Turnbull.
Speaking today as the debate came to a close, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the Government would not give up on the ETS and accused the Coalition of trying to spook voters.
"When you cannot fight the argument you run a scare campaign," she said.
"These are people sprinting back to the past. They are sham arguments from people driven, and now led, by people who do not believe climate change is real."
Deputy Opposition leader in the Senate Eric Abetz spoke scathingly about the scheme.
"The CPRS is dead and no amount of CPR will revive it," he said. "Labor has never tried to explain the fine print - and little wonder."
Speaking in support of the amended ETS agreed to under former Opposition leader Mr Turnbull, Senator Troeth said it is clear humans are causing climate change.
"While this legislation may be flawed in many ways - it's been amended by the very substantive efforts of the Coalition - we will all ultimately have to accept that to a greater or lesser degree we will all pay in some form or another to combat global warming," she said.
"I urge senators to consider that if people like me are wrong there will be many great gains to be achieved nonetheless."
She has also called on the Government to consider the use of nuclear power.
Senator Boyce backed Senator Troeth's comments and said she was crossing the floor with a heavy heart.
"I am supporting party policy of less than 24 hours ago," she said.
"Last week in this place I urged that we pass the amended CPRS bills.
"That continues to be my view. We should be using the science that is available to behave responsibly".
Greens Senator Bob Brown slammed the Government for negotiating with the Opposition to try and pass the scheme, a tactic which he described as "disastrous".
And he accused the Coalition of being led by climate change sceptics.
"If we don't act on climate change our children and grandchildren will pay the penalty," he said.
"We should not fall short, as this legislation does."
But Senator Fielding said Australians did not want to rush ahead on the legislation and had started to question climate change science.
"The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) makes the GST look minor," he said.
"How can you vote for the CPRS when so many Australians have questions?"
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon paid tribute to Senator Wong's work on the legislation but said he could not support the scheme as it now stood.
"I cannot support it because I do not believe it is the right scheme," he said.
But he urged the climate change sceptics in the Coalition not to renege from taking action on climate change.
The laws' second defeat in the Senate means the Government can now call a double dissolution election, but it has so far publicly played down any prospect of doing so.
If Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wanted an early double dissolution election he would have to consider its timing because of several factors surrounding the fixed terms of the Senate.
If he calls an election before July 1 next year another Senate election would have to be held in 2012, meaning the Government would have to decide whether to have a only half-Senate election at that time or take the Parliament to another early election.
If Mr Rudd wants a double dissolution election that gives the Government a three-year term they have wait until after July 1 but must dissolve Parliament on or before August 10.
A normal election can be called after August 7.
Comments
Comments for this story are no longer available. ABC policy is to delete comments on stories three months after they are published.
Search ABC News
Election Live
PM Julia Gillard is holding a press conference in Perth. Watch it live on ABC News 24. Update: There were...
Electorate finder
Featured Video
-
Video
Victorian Premier John Brumby has recommended sweeping policy changes in response to the Black Saturday bushfires.
-
Video
Prime Minister Julia Gillard addresses questions at a press conference in Perth on Labor leaks, Kevin Rudd and her partner's speeding fines.
-
Video
CCTV footage shows the American teenager known as the Barefoot Bandit attempting to escape from Bahamian authorities before being arrested.
-
Video
US President Barack Obama discusses his family life and the current state of the economy on a daytime chat show.
The ABC News Online Investigative Unit encourages whistleblowers, and others with access to information they believe should be revealed for the public good, to contact us.
