Australian govt in another bid to repeal carbon tax

July 14, 2014 11:37 am | Updated July 19, 2016 06:00 pm IST - Sydney

Australian PM Tony Abbott

Australian PM Tony Abbott

The Australian government on Monday was expected to reintroduce draft legislation to scrap a tax on big polluters, days after cross-benchers unexpectedly blocked the move in Parliament.

Senate approval of the Bill would make the country the first to repeal a carbon tax and would see that fixed-price polluters were given incentives to reduce their carbon emissions.

The Palmer United Party (PUP) on Thursday withdrew its support for the Bill after a reported stalemate over a last-minute amendment. The Bill has been introduced by the Liberal-led coalition government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

The PUP said it wanted the draft legislation to add tougher penalties for power and gas companies that failed to pass savings on to consumers.

Three senators from the PUP, led by mining magnate Clive Palmer, tipped the vote 37-35 in the Senate when they sided with the Labor party and Greens.

Talks over the weekend reportedly led to an agreement on the inclusion of the key amendment.

On Monday, the reintroduction of the Bill in the House of Representatives was to be followed by debate in the Senate and a vote.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.