Coalition accuses Wong of ETS stunt

The coalition is seeking to recast itself as the good guy in emissions trading
negotiations, saying the Rudd government had pulled a stunt by setting a deadline
for proposed changes to the laws.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong wrote to Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull on
Tuesday demanding the coalition deliver its amendments for a proposed emissions
trading scheme by October 19, when parliament resumes.
The coalition, however, says the letter - which was widely circulated in the media -
is a stunt.
Opposition emissions trading spokesman Ian Macfarlane told ABC radio he had spoken
to Senator Wong over the weekend, where he had laid down the coalition's timetable.
Mr Macfarlane said the timetable had essentially fitted the deadline set by Senator
Wong.
"I'd had a conversation with Penny Wong on Saturday, I gave her an undertaking that
it would be a negotiation in good faith," he told ABC radio.
Mr Macfarlane had told Senator Wong that the outcome of a party room meeting on
October 20 "would then be the basis of the negotiation with the government, which
would then start immediately".
"So it's basically just a bit of sabre rattling," he said.
Senator Wong's office wasn't immediately available for comment.
Despite what he called a show of "raw politics" from Senator Wong, Mr Macfarlane
said the coalition would continue negotiations.
"It won't be a problem, I mean we have a commitment to have a negotiation in good
faith," he said.
Mr Turnbull made it clear that whatever happened, it wouldn't be about the coalition
bowing to the government's demands.
"We're not going to fall into line with any timetables proposed by Penny Wong," Mr
Turnbull told reporters in London.
"If she's prepared to negotiate with us over the emissions trading scheme it may be
that we reach agreement, it may be that we won't."
The government appears to be trying to up the pressure on Mr Turnbull, knowing he
will face a battle when he takes the amendments to the coalition party room on
October 20.
The coalition is split over whether it should even negotiate with the government
over an ETS, which it believes would be better finalised after a United Nations
meeting in Copenhagen in December.
The Senate has already knocked back the ETS laws once.
If, when the laws go before the Senate again in November, they are rejected for a
second time, the government could use it as a trigger to call an early election.
Senator Wong believes the public will question the coalition's commitment to an ETS
if it continues to delay its final position.
Senator Wong won't say what the government will do if the coalition misses her
deadline.
"If Mr Turnbull fails to put forward amendments in a very reasonable timetable that
the government's set out, I think people will question whether he is genuine about
having a good faith discussion with the government on climate change policy,"
Senator Wong told Fairfax radio on Wednesday.
Mr Rudd, who is in the United States for international discussions on climate
change, backed his minister's strategy.
Mr Turnbull needed to recognise the laws weren't just "political slap and tickle".
"You can't at 30 seconds to midnight say here are 16 technical amendments, it
doesn't work that way," Mr Rudd told reporters.
Mr Rudd insisted the government wasn't motivated by the possibility of an early
election.
A recent poll showed voters were disinclined to go to the polls early because of an
ETS.