ETS rejected in Senate

13 Aug 2009, 11:19 am   -   Source: SBS staff and agencies
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The government's emissions trading scheme has been voted down in the Senate 42 to 30. (AAP)

The government's emissions trading scheme has been voted down in the Senate 42 to 30. (AAP)

The government's emissions trading scheme has been voted down in the Senate 42 to 30.

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The government's emissions trading scheme has been voted down in the Senate 42 to 30.

The Australian Greens say the government's 2020 emissions reduction targets - between an unconditional five per cent and a highly-conditional 25 per cent - are too timid.

The coalition and Independent senator Nick Xenophon want the government to consider an alternative scheme, based on a model they commissioned from Frontier Economics.

Family First's Steve Fielding is yet to be convinced human activity is causing global warming.

In the end the Senate voted 42 to 30 to reject the bills.

The government must now wait three months before reintroducing the same legislation.

If the bills are rejected a second time Labor will have a trigger to dissolve both houses of parliament and call an early election.

Shortly before the vote, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the bills would be brought back to the Senate so Australia could have an emissions trading scheme in place before UN climate change talks are held at Copenhagen in December.

"If we don't, the message is Australia is once again going backwards on climate change," she told the Senate.

"We will give the Senate the opportunity to do what Australians expect it to do."

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