Australia govt to seek vote-trigger on carbon laws
19 Jun 2009 02:54:46 GMT Source: Reuters
By Rob Taylor CANBERRA, June 19 (Reuters) - Australia's government, facing Senate defeat of key emission trading laws, vowed on Friday to bring its climate-fighting regime to the upper house a second time, opening the door for a possible snap election. The opposition-dominated Senate aims to scuttle Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plan for emissions trade from 2011 and conservatives wielding the largest voting bloc plan a four-day filibuster next week that could see the bills defeated. "We want a vote, we want the bill passed, and we have been clear that if the bill is not passed, we will bring the bill back, because we believe that action on climate change is important," Climate Minister Penny Wong told local radio. The emissions laws helped underpin the election victory of Rudd's centre-left Labor in 2007 and the government aims for one of the world's broadest schemes, targeting emission cuts of 5-25 percent over 2000 levels by 2020. But the conservatives have called for parliamentary approval of the scheme to be delayed until the United States decides on climate legislation and the outcome is clear from talks on a post-Kyoto climate pact for the world in Copenhagen in December. Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull accuses Rudd and Wong of seeking early passage of the laws to have a constitutional excuse for early elections, skirting the worst of an economic downturn likely to peak next year when elections are due. Under the constitution, Rudd may call simultaneous elections in both the upper and lower house, a so-called double dissolution, if the Senate rejects the same laws twice with a three-month gap between attempts. But while Rudd might want the option of an early vote, most political analysts believe it is a remote possibility short-term as the economy treads water to stay clear of recession. If he opts for early elections amid a weakening economy, it would most likely come early in 2010 before the May budget and ahead of Australia's winter. Parliament begins its six-week winter break at the end of next week and a filibuster on the carbon trade laws would still count as a Senate refusal to pass the legislative package. The government's next chance with the laws would be October. "He (Turnbull) is hiding behind Senators who will never, in terms of what they have said, who will never vote for this legislation, who want to delay a vote and to filibuster. It is an extraordinary act of irresponsibility," Wong said. Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown, whose party controls five of seven Senate swing-votes, said the legislation was irretrievably flawed and modest emission cut targets aimed only to protect Australia as the world's top coal exporter. "There is a lot of buzz about a double dissolution. On both the government and opposition sides there are lots of calenders out," Brown told reporters. "I think we should be attending to the planet and to this nation's future, and be getting serious about climate change targets that we could reach," he said. (For more stories on carbon trading in Australia click on [ID:nSYD32519] (Editing by Sugita Katyal)
