21 May 2009:
CPRS: Reaction in the House

The Commonwealth Government presented draft legislation for Australia’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to Parliament on 14 May 2009.

By all reports, the Government is determined to pass this legislation this year, arguing that this will provide more certainty for business and leave Australia better placed to further its agenda at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 - namely, that other countries should take bolder action to mitigate climate change.

However, the legislation has met with a diversity of views - not least within the Coalition itself - and ambit claims from non-Government senators, and the fate of this legislation remains to be seen.

The Coalition has commissioned an independent review of the proposed CPRS legislation, which was delayed after the changes to the proposed CPRS announced by the Government on 4 May 2009. The Coalition’s response is likely to be complicated by the possibility that the National Party may split with the Liberals on this issue, as Senator Barnaby Joyce has ruled out voting in favour of the CPRS, even if the Liberal Party decides to support it.

The Greens consider the proposed CPRS, and in particular the permit assistance to industry, as a mechanism to maintain the profitability of existing fossil fuel based industries, and an obstacle to the scale of emissions reductions required if Australia is to plays its part in the global effort to mitigate climate change.

The votes of two Independents may also count - Senator Xenophon and Senator Fielding. Senator Xenophon has expressed concern about transitional adjustment issues, uncertainty and complexity, and Senator Fielding is on record as being concerned about the costs involved, the risk to employment, and the extent to which the CPRS will be effective in combating global warning.