Labor stops ETS being passed in Parliament today
04 Nov 2009
Media release The Labor Government stopped the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill being passed in the House of Representatives today showing they are only interested in a double dissolution trigger rather than tackling climate change, Christopher Pyne, Manager of Opposition Business said.
"Kevin Rudd has been talking about the urgent need to pass this legislation before Copenhagen. But when I moved a motion in the House of Representatives, that the CPRS Bill be voted on immediately, the Government voted no," Mr Pyne said.
The Government says this Bill must be passed urgently - if that were true they would have voted for it today when the Opposition gave them a chance. There can no longer be any doubt that the Government is only interested in voting on this Bill after the three months have expired which would enable a double dissolution election. Those three months expire in two weeks.
You can bet your house the vote will be taken on November 16, two and a half weeks later than it needed to be.
The need to address climate change has been described by the Prime Minister as the 'greatest moral challenge of our time'. Today his Government has shown that the only challenge on its mind, is the next election
"Anyone wondering why Australia needed to have an emission trading scheme in place before the Copenhagen Summit in December would now know that this legislation is primarily about politics, about securing a double dissolution trigger and about the next election," Mr Pyne said.
29 October 2008
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