33 ayes. 41 noes.
And there we have it. The ETS goes down. With a whimper.
Back in December last year Ross Garnaut said the government’s initial CPRS blueprint would get “5½ out of 10 at a good university”:
“Never in the history of Australian public finance has so much been given without public policy purpose, by so many, to so few …”
Well now this piece of public policy is dead, not slayed by any kind of high-minded principle, mind you, but by sheer, bloody minded politics.
Crunch time, in the form of the Copenhagen conference, kicks off in five days. Meanwhile, the international headlines about yesterday’s little domestic kerfuffle are rolling in:
Australian opposition dumps its leader over carbon trading bill – The Guardian
Australia opposition vote deals climate law blow – BBC News
‘Mad Monk’ Tony Abbott plays with fire – Times Online (UK)
Climate e-mails topple Australian opposition leader – Telegraph.co.uk
Showdown in Australia Over Climate Bill — The New York Times
How much support will Australian climate sceptic get? — The Financial Times UK
Not so funny anymore.
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.