Carbon tax repeal defeated again, as Palmer Senators cry foul

The Abbott government’s bid to repeal Australia’s carbon tax has again been defeated in the Senate, this time stymied by Clive Palmer, who this morning warned his United Party senators would not vote with the government, after its “violent reaction” to the PUP’s proposed legislation amendment.

True to his word, Palmer’s PUP Senators Glenn Lazarus, Jacqui Lambie and Dio Wang joined Motoring Entusiasts’ Ricky Muir, Labor and the Greens to vote down the repeal bills 37 votes to 35 in the Upper House of Parliament at around 12.30pm on Thursday.

It’s yet another setback for the government’s anti-carbon price crusade, one which offers up yet another double dissolution trigger, but it is still widely expected that the repeal bill will be voted through the Senate – quite probably next week – depending on how negotiations with Palmer & Co progress.

In a press conference after the vote, Senate Leader Eric Abetz and federal environment minister Greg Hunt said the government would now introduce a set of amended bills to repeal the carbon tax to the House of Representatives on Monday.

Negotiations, however – as Labor’s Anthony Albanese has noted today on Twitter – are not Abbott’s strong point – nor indeed his preference, when it comes to cross benchers.

The PUP claims to have agreed with the Coalition on planned amendments to carbon tax repeal legislation to ensure the resulting savings were passed onto consumers. But Palmer told reporters this morning that the federal government had “double crossed” his party on the changes: “That’s a bit of news you can put on the twitter,” he said.

Subsequent reports revealed that frantic last-minute talks between the Coalition, Palmer and cross-bench senators failed to break the stalemate.

Speaking in parliament before the vote, the former Canberra Raider turned PUP Senate leader Lazarus said he supported removal of the carbon tax, but only if it was inclusive of his party’s “historic” amendment, a measure he argued would stimulate the Australian economy and “assist those most in need”.

Lazarus stressed that there was no point removing the carbon tax unless Australians genuinely and directly benefited from the move – benefits that included the PUP’s call for a “toughened obligation” for suppliers of electricity and gas to pass on all cost savings resulting from the repeal, as well as a “clear explaination” of how these had been calculated and passed on to consumers.

Lazarus also stressed that the Palmer United Party was devoted to “common sense solutions”, both to addressing climate change and lowering energy costs for consumers.

“And if the day comes, that our major trading partners, China, the United States of American, the European Union, Japan and Korea set up an emissions trading scheme, then they will know that Australia can act together with these countries to implement a global solution without disadvantaging our people.”

Palmer & Co are also thought to have saved the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, or ARENA, from Abbott’s swinging axe – albeit with previously flagged, and as-yet unquantified, cuts to its budget.

The PUP have also shown their colours on renewables, in general, and the Renewable Energy Target in particular, after Palmer joined former Liberal Party leader John Hewson Thursday morning to help launch the new Australia Institute report Fighting Dirty on Clean Energy: The case for the RET.

TAI’s report argues the RET has been used by the Coalition as a scapegoat (see chart below) for Australian power price rises, when it had only contributed 3-4.5 per cent – and would eventually lead to a fall in overall medium and long-term power prices, due to the effect of increased supply.