McGauran threatens to vote against ETS

Renegade Liberal Julian McGauran is threatening to vote against any emissions
trading scheme before the Senate ahead of an international agreement on climate
change.
His vow is a further blow to the authority of Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull,
who promised just hours earlier to pull his troops into line on the vexed issue of
climate change.
The federal government will bring its ETS laws back before the Senate in November
after being knocked back once already.
If they are rejected for a second time, the government could use it as a trigger to
call an early election, which could be problematic for Mr Turnbull, who is
struggling in the opinion polls.
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.
Mr Turnbull insists that the coalition will be able to find a compromise position
that will allow it to negotiate with the government.
But even before it gets to that stage, one of its senators has stated that he'll
vote against the scheme.
Senator McGauran, who defected from the Nationals in 2006, said he would not vote
for an ETS before the international community reached at agreement on targets to cut
emissions.
Countries are due to decide targets at a United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in
December.
Senator McGauran said he'd vote against any ETS bill that came before the parliament
before a global agreement was finalised.
"There is no amount of compromise that would convince me otherwise," he said.
"Once an international agreement is signed and active, a coalition amended ETS can
be taken off the top-shelf and implemented in Australia."
Senator McGauran said the coalition should not buckle to government demands because
of the threat of an early election.