As Australia’s parliament heads into its final week of sitting for the year it’s no surprise that the Labor opposition will resist the conservative Liberal-National government’s efforts to repeal the carbon price legislation.
Labor has consistently insisted the current fixed price Emissions Trading Scheme must be replaced by a market based ETS for the government’s repeal legislation to win its support.
Liberal-National Prime Minister Tony Abbott took to social media at the weekend to implore the Labor Party, which with the Australian Greens Party controls the upper house Senate, to stand aside and let the government deal with its “unfinished business” before Christmas.
AAP Newsagency reports Mr Abbott wants the carbon tax repeal legislation, now before the Senate, passed before the last scheduled sitting day for the year on Thursday.
The Prime Minister called on the Senate to do the “right thing” and vote to scrap the carbon price and mining tax, saying December is the time to deal with “unfinished business”.
Mr Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten today flew to Johannesburg for former South African President Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, missing most of the final week of parliament.
AAP reports with the government staring at defeat on its push to scrap both the mining tax and carbon price, Mr Abbott posted a message on YouTube directed at Australian voters and the Senate.
“December is the time to deal with unfinished business – and to clear the decks for a good start to the New Year,” he said in Sunday night’s message.
“At the election, you voted to scrap Labor’s carbon and mining taxes.
“So, I call on the Senate to do the right thing this week and to scrap Labor’s bad taxes to give our economy the clean start it needs for 2014.”
Acting opposition leader Tanya Plibersek has argued the carbon price was working to cut pollution, while the coalition’s alternative Direct Action plan was not backed by economists or scientists.
AAP reports data to be released by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory this week is expected to reveal the carbon price cut emissions by 300,000 tonnes in its first year, or less than 0.1 per cent.
Ms Plibersek said that was a bigger cut than most were expecting for the first 12 months of the impost.
“That’s a lot of pollution taken out of the atmosphere,” she told ABC Radio.
Emissions had been reduced while the Australian economy grew, despite dire predictions from the coalition, she said.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt said there were signs Mr Shorten would pull Labor senators out of the upper house on Thursday to avoid a vote on the repeal bills.
“Mr Shorten has brought the union days back to the Senate,” he told AAP in the national capital, Canberra.
Labor’s continued opposition to the government’s efforts to abolish the carbon price was a “rude response” to the verdict of voters at the September election, Mr Hunt said.
However, it’s almost certain the dispute over the carbon price and mining tax will not be resolved, regardless of Mr Abbott’s threats to keep parliament open until Christmas.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said Labor’s opposition to the repeal was not motivated by revenge.
“We’ll call it as we see it, and we’ll call it on its merits,” Mr Bowen told Sky News on Sunday.
“It’s not revenge. It’s staying true to our values.”
