Non-government members of the multi-party climate change committee have rejected reports the major players are close to reaching agreement on a carbon tax.
“The reports that we’re on the verge of being there are wrong,” Australian Greens leader Bob Brown told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
“We have very real hurdles in the negotiation process.”
Both Senator Brown and Independent MP Tony Windsor said the committee might not even reach agreement.
“There is no deal at the moment,” Mr Windsor said, adding “a deal or no deal” was still weeks away.
Senator Brown said he had a brief conversation with Prime Minister Julia Gillard earlier on Wednesday.
There were still “considerable gaps” between the Greens and Labor and it was possible there would be no outcome at all, he said.
“That’s been possible from the outset and we recognise the problems that would come with that.
“We’re working to get an outcome. That’s always been the position on both sides.”
The drawn-out process prompted opposition climate action spokesman Greg Hunt to say an announcement about the details was long overdue.
“This has been the slowest birth in Australian political history,” he told reporters.
He called on Ms Gillard to “bring it on” and announce the details of the tax.
Mr Hunt criticised the committee’s “locked box” discussions, saying the process had been anything but transparent.
Mr Windsor said the delay in reaching an agreement was justified because of the issue’s complexity.
“We don’t have agreement (but) that doesn’t mean we won’t get there,” he said, adding he had not been under pressure to reach an agreement by the government’s self-imposed deadline of late-June, early-July.
When reporters pressed the MP about a deal being weeks or months away he said: “It might be never”.
Mr Windsor said the political debate on climate change had been handled poorly but a carbon tax would be easier to sell to the public if and when an agreement was reached.
“It’s been difficult for the government (but) they’ve brought it upon themselves.”
Labor MP Nick Champion said it was important the details of the carbon tax discussions were “well negotiated” by those involved.
“It’s important that people get it right and we have a measured and patient debate about it and not a hysterical debate that (Opposition Leader) Tony Abbott wants,” he told reporters.
Nationals MP Darren Chester said that while the government might be close to an agreement, the prime minister still did not have a deal with the Australian people.
“The prime minister still hasn’t dealt with that fundamental breach of trust where she told the Australian people just before the last election that there would be no carbon tax under a government she leads,” he said.
Liberal senate leader Eric Abetz says he is still hopeful key crossbencher Steve Fielding will support a coalition move to run a plebiscite on the proposed carbon tax.
The Family First senator has said he won’t, describing the move as a “political stunt”.
“Even at this late stage I still hold out hope that he will stand up for families and actually put them first,” Senator Abetz told reporters.
He queried Senator Fielding’s “double flip” on the issue of climate change and accused him of being complicit in “Julia Gillard’s lie to the Australian people”.
“On this issue … Steve Fielding is not the full bottle.
“He has let down his supporters, his constituency and everything he stood for the last six years.”
