The Government’s final offer of an emissions trading scheme will be put to the Federal Opposition tomorrow, but resistance to the bill remains high and is doubtful whether the legislation will pass the Senate before Parliament rises for the year on Friday.
The legislation comes as opposition within the Liberal party is growing against leader Malcolm Turnbull, with a number of ministers prepared to vote against the scheme.
Climate change minister Penny Wong said negotiations are still ongoing and that no formal offer will be made until at least tomorrow morning, with the Coalition expected to make a decision on the offer shortly afterwards.
Wong and Opposition climate change spokesman Ian Macfarlane will continue negotiations today.
”I think the Coalition knows broadly – or certainly their negotiators know broadly – where we’re likely to land,” Wong told the Nine Network yesterday. “But we will be putting a formal offer… to them on Tuesday morning.”
The changes to the legislation are expected to be more favourable to business, particularly in the power and coal industries, while Wong is also rumoured to be making changes that will see provisions for households who choose to cut their emissions voluntarily.
But it is unknown what other changes are included in the bill.
“Tuesday gives us the maximum time in the party room, and that was the preference I expressed to Minister Wong early last week,” Macfarlane said.
But not all in the Opposition were pleased, with education spokesman Christopher Pyne telling the ABC the Tuesday deadline is “really cutting it fine”. Senator Eric Abetz said the deadline “would make it exceptionally difficult for the coalition to come to a considered position and for the Senate to have enough time to debate it”.
Opposition to the scheme itself has grown even within the Liberal party, with several front-bench members openly defying Turnbull’s view, including Abetz, Nick Minchin and Tony Abbott. Other supporters include Senators Scott Ryan, Mitch Fifield, Alan Ferguson and Chris Black.
Turnbull has spent months negotiating with the government changes to the scheme, and has said he is focused on having a version of the legislation passed.
”Our amendments seek to preserve tens of thousands of… jobs and to enable an emissions trading scheme to be much more effective,” Turnbull said. ”Whether we’re able to achieve that will depend on the Government’s reaction [and] we won’t know finally what that is until the negotiations are concluded.”
But several senators, including many who openly deny scientific evidence presented to Parliament regarding climate change patterns, have defied Turnbull’s orders for unity.
“The Senate overwhelmingly rejected this abomination in August – it should do so again,” Minchin said last week. “The Coalition has maintained from day one that this legislation should not be voted upon before we know the outcome of the Copenhagen conference.
“Until we know that other major economies are making firm commitments to enact domestic emissions trading schemes Australia should not act alone.”
The comments come after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced with several other world leaders, including US president Barack Obama, that next month’s Copenhagen summit on climate change will not see a definitive agreement.
Wong is expected to take the negotiated amendments to the Labor Party’s parliamentary members meeting tomorrow, with an announcement to come shortly afterwards.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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