ETS passes first hurdle

Federal Labor's emissions trading scheme has passed through the lower house of
parliament unaltered.
The government used its numbers to vote down coalition and independent amendments
and push the ETS through.
The legislation now goes to the Senate, where a final vote is expected next week.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had moved to defer the legislation until after
global climate talks in Copenhagen this December.
The opposition is currently in talks with the government behind the scenes to make
the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme more industry-friendly.
Before the vote, junior Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said negotiating with
the opposition was necessary "because the reality is the government requires support
in the Senate to pass the legislation".
But he said the government was concerned about comments from opposition Senate
leader Nick Minchin, who last week suggested the majority of the Liberal Party
didn't believe man-made global warming was real.
"(The comments) do bring in to question the ability of the opposition to deliver on
a set of amendments," Mr Combet told parliament on Monday.
"However, the reform is too important to fail due to any disunity on the other side
of the chamber.
"I call upon all coalition members to take responsibility in this respect and act in
the national interest to support reductions in our emissions."
Mr Combet urged the house to support the bill, saying it would have a direct impact
on the success of climate change talks in Copenhagen.
"I urge all of our colleagues, with just over 20 days until Copenhagen, to support
passage of the CPRS because it would mean Australia would be able to go to the
negotiating table not just with targets but robust mechanisms," he said.
"And it would give, I think, the international community a much needed boost in
process in the crucial weeks leading up to the international negotiations."
Mr Combet said the legislation was "too important to fail", while the issue of
climate change needed "unprecedented international cooperation".
"It demands in fact a new industrial revolution ... a clean industrial revolution,"
he said.
Earlier, Liberal MP Pat Farmer, from the southwestern Sydney seat of Macarthur, said
the Rudd government was using the scheme to prop up government coffers.
Mr Farmer said whatever efforts Australia takes to reduce its carbon footprint would
be rendered irrelevant by heavy pollution emitters such as China and the US.
But Mr Combet denied the scheme was a tax grab and said any revenue generated from
the sale of emissions would be returned to households.
He also said Australian businesses needed certainty on the issue in order to plan
for the future.
Liberal MP Petro Georgiou said climate change presented "a significant threat to
Australia, and to our environment and to our prosperity".
"And I believe the Australian people do want action taken on climate change," he said.
"This is one of the most significant and difficult tasks currently confronting us...
"There is no single response to addressing climate change but the introduction of an
Emission Trading Scheme is an important step."
Meanwhile, a new survey suggests a growing number of people believe the federal
government should hold off trying to get its emission trading legislation through
parliament before December's UN summit in Copenhagen.
Essential Research's weekly online survey found 38 per cent back the opposition's
view that decisions on emissions trading should wait until after the Copenhagen
summit.
Slightly fewer - 36 per cent - thought that way when the question was asked in June.
Those backing the government's push to get the legislation before the summit remains
steady at 33 per cent.
The remainder said they didn't know.
The poll of 1,043 voters also found 55 per cent backing the government in the next
election, down four points from last week on a two-party preferred basis.
The opposition gained four points to 45 per cent.