The latest changes to Australia’s carbon price scheme have passed the House of Representatives.
The package of bills ditches the carbon floor price and links Australia’s emissions trading scheme to the price in Europe.
After a long debate over several days, the package passed its first hurdle on Thursday morning when Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s amendment, that called for the carbon tax to be scrapped, was defeated by 72 votes to 69.
Former speaker Peter Slipper joined the bulk of the crossbench to support the government.
After a second reading vote, which the government won by the same margin, Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt moved an amendment to have the Productivity Commission review the profits of the worst polluters, brown coal-fired power stations.
Mr Bandt said the Greens signed off on the multi-party deal over carbon pricing in the belief that about 2000 megawatts of the dirtiest power would be closed.
But these power stations were now not closing and there was a prospect they would actually make windfall profits.
The government opposed the amendment, with Climate Change Minister Greg Combet saying existing arrangements would not be tampered with.
The government had discharged its obligations to the multi-party agreement “to the word”.
The Greens amendment was doomed when the opposition also voted against it.
But opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt used the debate to mock the policy regarding dirty power stations.
Mr Hunt said it was a “unique achievement” to have two multi-billion dollar funds doing opposite things.
There was a $2 billion fund to close the stations and a $5.5 billion fund to bail them out and keep them going.
“The Greens and the ALP are squabbling over the deck chairs on the Titanic of electricity prices,” Mr Hunt said.
After a final vote, going the government’s way 71-68, the Clean Energy Amendment (International Emissions Trading and Other Measures) Bill 2012, and associated legislation will now go to the Senate.
