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Australia emissions plan in chaos Australia emissions plan in chaos
(about 7 hours later)
The Australian government's plans to enact a law for an emissions trading scheme have been thrown into chaos.The Australian government's plans to enact a law for an emissions trading scheme have been thrown into chaos.
A revolt within the opposition Liberal Party could overturn an agreement reached earlier in the week with the Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull. A revolt within the opposition Liberal Party means a key deadline for the Senate to pass the legislation has been missed.
He agreed to pass the measure through the upper house of parliament where the government does not have a majority. Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull had agreed with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to pass the scheme in the Senate, where the government is in a minority.
But opposition climate change sceptics have vowed to scupper the legislation and have challenged his leadership. If the Senate fails to pass the scheme, Mr Rudd can call a snap election.
Election prospect That could be an appealing option, as he would be expected to win by a very big margin, seriously damaging the Liberals.
With parliament about to take its long Christmas and summer break, the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had wanted to enact the legislation creating an emissions trading scheme by the end of this week. Political wilderness
It was keen to enshrine the scheme in law before the Copenhagen climate change conference. The Senate adjourned on Friday - its last scheduled day of business in 2009 - but agreed to return on Monday to continue debate on the package of 11 bills.
Earlier in the week, the government reached a deal with Mr Turnbull that would have met that deadline.
But this prompted a revolt among climate change sceptics in the Liberal Party that has now placed the legislation in jeopardy.
There have been mass resignations from the opposition front bench, and the party is in open and angry rebellion.There have been mass resignations from the opposition front bench, and the party is in open and angry rebellion.
One leading climate change sceptic and senior party figure, Tony Abbott, says he will challenge Mr Turnbull for the leadership on Monday. With a series of mass frontbench resignations on Thursday, and an open challenge from Tony Abbott, a senior party figure, even his supporters now concede that Malcolm Turnbull is political roadkill Nick Bryant, BBC News, Sydney class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/">Read more
Malcolm Turnbull has argued that the party would consign itself to political oblivion if it refused to advance policies aimed at tackling climate change. Mr Turnbull said he would not stand down as leader. He warned that failure to support the climate change bill would consign the Liberals to the political wilderness.
But that argument has not carried any weight with a strong rump in his party who reject the scientific case that man is contributing to global warming. "We would be wiped out," he told Australian radio. "The vast majority of Australians want to see action on climate change.
If the measure fails to pass the Senate, the government would have a trigger to call an election - an election they would be expected to win by a very big margin. "If this legislation is knocked back, Kevin Rudd will have no choice but to go to a double dissolution election. This is a fundamental plank in his platform."
But that argument has not carried any weight with a strong rump in his party who reject the scientific case that man is contributing to global warming, says the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney.
One leading climate change sceptic and senior party figure, Tony Abbott, has said he will challenge Mr Turnbull for the leadership on Monday.
Mr Rudd had wanted to pass the bill - aimed at cutting emissions by up to 25% of 2000 levels by 2020 - in time for the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.
It was initially rejected by the Senate in August and revised to include more support for industry and farmers.
Australia is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide per capita.