Greens leader Richard Di Natale has interrupted the Senate to slam the federal government's plan to abandon a clean energy target.
Senator Di Natale proposed a suspension of standing orders to debate climate change on Tuesday, saying the prime minister should hang his head in shame over the scheme.
"What we are seeing today is the total and complete capitulation of Malcolm Turnbull to the hard right of his party and his big coal donors," Senator Di Natale told parliament.
Attorney-General George Brandis dismissed Di Natale's attempt as another Greens stunt.
"(Senator Di Natale has) every gesture, every posture of a left-wing hipster pretending to be a champion of working Australians," Senator Brandis said.
Labor senator Kate Gallagher said while the Turnbull government's energy policy was a failure, a debate was premature and would waste parliament's time.
The government and Labor opposed the move which was emphatically defeated, with Mr Turnbull announcing the plan a short time later.
The proposal of Chief Scientist Alan Finkel for a clean energy target will be dumped under the national energy guarantee, which the government says will cut power bills and reduce emissions.
