ETS Senate failure leaves hard negotiation ahead

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2009
ETS Senate failure leaves hard negotiation ahead

By Kate Hannon, National Political Editor

CANBERRA, Aug 13 AAP - Labor's failure to get its emissions trading scheme (ETS) through
parliament means it faces months of hard negotiation before trying again in November.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and senior ministers attacked the coalition in parliament,
labelling them "dinosaurs" and captives of climate change sceptics hours after the 11
ETS bills were voted down 42-30 in the Senate on Thursday.

Mr Rudd accused Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull of a failure of leadership, saying
the defeat placed Australia's future on climate change in "grave jeopardy".

The Australian Greens - who don't believe the government's ETS is tough enough - and
the two crossbench senators joined the coalition in defeating the bills, handing the government
a potential double dissolution election trigger if they are again voted down in November.

With defeat on Thursday inevitable, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told the Senate
the government would not give up and would reintroduce its ETS aimed at cutting greenhouse
gas emissions by five per cent below 2000 levels by 2020.

"This bill may be going down today but this is not the end," Senator Wong said.

Mr Rudd said the government would only consider opposition amendments once it adopted
its own policy on climate change, something it has avoided doing so far because of a divided
coalition party room.

He said it had been a disappointing day for Australia when the coalition could not
unite in a single voice on climate change.

"Today they have chosen to do the reverse and, as a consequence, put Australia's future
on climate change in grave jeopardy," Mr Rudd said.

"Today, Australia had an opportunity to embrace the future on climate change and instead
we find ourselves, courtesy of the Liberal and National parties, dangerously anchored
in the past."

But Mr Turnbull accused Senator Wong of "pedantic bloody-mindedness" over her refusal
to negotiate with the coalition unless they presented formal amendments.

Speaking after the senate vote, Mr Turnbull said the Opposition had put forward alternatives,
including Monday's Frontier Economics scheme which would reduce the cost of an ETS and
the impact on electricity prices.

"Only a few days ago we'd showed her a few alternatives that would make for a scheme
that was greener, cheaper and smarter ... and she just dismissed it out of hand, said
it was a mongrel idea," Mr Turnbull said.

He flagged opposition plans to "work through" amendments during the next few weeks
and months in order to avoid handing the government an early election trigger.

But he said they wanted to discuss the formation of the amendments with the government.

The Opposition wants the government to delay the ETS bills until early 2010 after the
United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December where it is hoped there
will be global agreement.

It also prefers the government wait until the US government has passed its proposed
ETS in the form of the Waxman-Markey bill.

But the problem for Mr Turnbull is getting any agreement on amendments through his
own party room between now and November with some of his own Liberal colleagues and the
Nationals implacably opposed to an ETS.

The ETS vote attracted a small protest by a group of farmers who said man-made climate
change was a myth as they stood in front of parliament house holding signs saying "Penny
Wrong" and "Green Dreams, who pays?".

AAP keh/sb/jlw

KEYWORD: CLIMATE WRAP

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