Crook still undecided on carbon, asylum bills

11 Oct 2011, 1:03 pm   -   Source: SBS Staff
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WA Nationals MP Tony Crook. (AAP)

WA Nationals MP Tony Crook. (AAP)

Heavily-courted WA Nationals MP Tony Crook says he will move an amendment to the carbon tax bill around diesel fuel excise, but says he has not decided which way he will vote on the legislation.

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Heavily-courted WA Nationals MP Tony Crook says he will move an amendment to the carbon tax bill around diesel fuel excise, but says he has not decided which way he will vote on the legislation.

"I'm having a couple of meetings this afternoon, government and opposition, and we'll go from there."

Mr Crook said he would likely meet Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese today, where legislation on asylum would also be discussed.

On including diesel in the carbon legislation, he said it was a big issue for his rural constituents.

"Hundred of thousands of my electorate will really, really struggle...the simple fact is that there's just no alternative to diesel fuel."

On the government's proposed changes to the Migration Act, Mr Crook denied he would back the government when journalists seized on comments he made calling for humane treatment of new arrivals.

He said his mind has not been made up, and there's "good and bad on both sides of the argument." Mr Crook's vote is likely to be decisive, with the opposition also lobbying hard for his support because it wants the minority Labor government to suffer its first embarrassing legislative defeat in the lower house, AAP reports.

 

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