Govt and coalition strike first ETS deal

The federal government's emissions trading scheme (ETS) is one step closer to being
passed, after Labor agreed it would not apply to farmers.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Sunday confirmed the government had conceded a key
coalition demand that agriculture be excluded permanently from its carbon pollution
reduction scheme (CPRS).
The concession raises hopes that Labor's legislation will now pass through
parliament before the Copenhagen climate summit in December.
But Mr Rudd was playing down suggestions his party and the coalition had reached an
agreement to pass the draft laws in the Senate during the next sitting fortnight.
"We still don't have the full reply from those opposite," he told reporters during a
break from the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) leaders' summit in
Singapore.
"The reason why we've done what we've done on agriculture is to underline what we're
on about here - which is good-faith negotiations."
The government initially intended to exclude agriculture from the scheme until 2015.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said any deal with the government on ETS
amendments still needed to win the backing of the coalition joint parties room.
"Obviously if the government agreed to everything, I'd recommend we support (the
scheme)," he told the Nine Network.
"If they agreed to nothing, I'd recommend we oppose it."
Mr Turnbull said he expected negotiations to end up "somewhere in the middle".
Nationals leader Warren Truss, whose party has vowed to oppose an ETS of any kind,
said the agriculture concession still left farmers with extra costs.
"Labor's CPRS will add greatly to the costs of dairy processing, sugar refining,
abattoirs and food processing, making Australian food less competitive on export
markets," he said.
Meanwhile, Australian Greens leader Bob Brown was using a new opinion poll to back
his party's demand for the ETS to include higher carbon reduction targets.
The scheme provides for a minimum five per cent reduction by 2020, and up to 25 per
cent if a global agreement is reached at Copenhagen.
"We've released a suite of legislative alternatives and amendments which we'll be
fighting for very strongly in the Senate," Senator Brown said.
"We've made it clear we won't back a five per cent target.
"We voted against that in June and we'll do it again."
However, another green group, the Southern Cross Climate Coalition, wants to see the
scheme passed - even if it doesn't apply to one of the nation's largest-emitting
sectors.
"We have a strong preference that agriculture is in the scheme," the coalition's
chief executive, Don Henry, said.
"But if agriculture is excluded ... it's not necessarily a deal-breaker but it makes
our job much harder.
"It means we have to ensure there are other policies in place to cut emissions."
The ETS will be the first piece of legislation debated when parliament resumes on
Monday, after all non-government senators voted the scheme down in August.
The lower house is expected to vote on the draft laws this week, setting up a
possible Senate showdown the following week.