The government should reintroduce its carbon legislation to parliament after scrapping the proposed $15 floor price for its emissions trading scheme (ETS), the federal opposition says.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet announced last week Australia’s ETS - set to begin in mid-2015 - will be linked with Europe’s scheme from day one.
“Well, the prime minister (Julia Gillard) should bring the scrapping of the floor price to the parliament,” opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt told Network Ten on Sunday.
“Because she told the parliament that she wouldn’t scrap it, and she should bring it to the parliament.
“We will use the opportunity to immediately seek an amendment to scrap the carbon tax.”
Mr Hunt said Labor’s decision on the floor price followed a theme with carbon pricing.
“The government said they wouldn’t bring in a carbon tax; the ALP then said - not just on one or two occasions, but 11 occasions - they had to have this carbon floor price, it was fundamental according to the prime minister, to certainty,” he said.
“Then, of course, they ditched it.”
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has said repeatedly that the first action of an elected coalition government would be to introduce legislation to repeal the carbon tax.
