Australia’s Senate defeats governments carbon tax repeal bill
Prime Minister Tony Abbott looking to repeal carbon tax but Labor and Green senators unite to oppose the move due to weakness of proposed alternative "direct action plan"
The Australian government's attempts to scrap the country's carbon tax were defeated in a Senate vote on Thursday.
A second vote on the bill is expected after July when more Liberal senators will take their seats.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants to repeal the tax, which forces companies to pay for their carbon dioxide emissions.
But senators from the opposition Labor and Green parties united to oppose the move because stating that the governments proposed alternative "direct action plan" is too weak.
Shadow Climate Change Minister Mark Butler said: "Without a credible alternative, Labor cannot support the abolition of the existing clean energy policies".
The aim of the bill is to remove an obligation on 348 of Australia's biggest companies to pay A$24.15 for each tonne of CO2 they emit and repeal legislation that would have launched an Emissions Trading Scheme in 2015.
The bill has significant support in Australia's lower house where the Liberal party holds a majority.
The government's direct action plan, which includes a fund that will pay emitters to pollute less, is intended to be the its main policy to meet a target of cutting greenhouse gas output to 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020.
Australia has among the world's highest carbon emissions per capita due mainly to its reliance on fossil fuel powered plants.
