Australia’s conservative Liberal-National federal government has been forced to change its plans to make the carbon price repeal the first order of business for the new upper house Senate.
The draft legislation program for next Monday’s sitting of the new Senate listed the nine bills to repeal Labor’s climate program as the first government business after the swearing-in of the new senators.
AAP Newsagency reports the Senate notice paper has now removed any reference to the carbon price repeal bills and the legislation to repeal the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) for Monday’s program.
If the program goes ahead unaltered it is expected the bills will come forward on July 14, after the tabling of an environment committee report into them.
The opposition Labor Party and the Australian Greens Party have been working to push out the report tabling date, ensuring the bills are delayed.
AAP reports earlier today Labor and the Australian Green engaged in guerilla tactics to frustrate the government’s bid to get rid of the carbon price.
The Senate is awaiting a report on the carbon price repeal bills by the environment committee before going ahead with the debate.
The environment committee was due to meet this morning in the national capital, Canberra, to discuss the report’s release date, but Labor and Australian Greens members of the committee did not attend and the meeting could not go ahead without a quorum, pushing out the release of the report and disrupting the government’s plans for the repeal bills
AAP reports in the new Senate, the government holds 33 seats and needs six crossbench votes to pass legislation.
Conservative Liberal-National Prime Minister Tony Abbott needs the support of the three Palmer United Party senators, Ricky Muir from the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party, Family First’s Bob Day and the Liberal Democrats’ David Leyonhjelm to pass the bills.
A motion being considered to split the package of nine bills may also frustrate the government.
This would allow the second round of compensatory tax cuts and welfare payments, which the government says are unnecessary if the carbon price is repealed, to go ahead as originally planned by the former Labor government.
A Senate committee report on the government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF), which is intended to replace Labor’s carbon pricing scheme, will be presented on Monday.
A number of senators have expressed interest in seeing detailed scrutiny of the government’s Direct Action plans before repealing the carbon price.
