 |
| Senator David Leyonhjelm is congratulated by Senator Doug Cameron after delivering his first speech in the Senate |
The federal government has suffered another blow to its beleaguered budget after being forced to retain tax-cut compensation due to start next year and an expensive energy-research agency, both of which were slated to go under its carbon-tax repeal package.
Amid growing concerns internally about its management of the new crossbench-dominated Senate, the government was first defeated on a procedural motion to force the carbon-tax repeal to an early vote on Wednesday, and then learnt it would be blocked on the proposed abolition of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
It also lost a vote on another critical aspect of the carbon-tax repeal when the otherwise pro-repeal Liberal Democratic Party senator David Leyonhjelm combined with the Greens, Labor and other crossbench senators to keep $1.5 billion worth of tax relief due to start from July 1 next year.
Speaking to reporters after the Senate chaos, Senate Leader Eric Abetz and Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the government would now introduce a set of amended bills to repeal the carbon tax to the House of Representatives on Monday.
The arrogant Abbott government had expected to be celebrating the achievement of its long-term ambition to axe Labor's price on carbon this week, but instead has found itself scrambling day by day to convince the cross bench that it was not just hatching a plot.
Mr Palmer had earlier on Thursday confirmed that his senators would not vote for the carbon tax repeal on Thursday, saying amendments had been lodged with the Senate Clerk’s office at 8.30am.
''We asked that it be distributed and we had a violent action from government, a violent reaction I would say,'' Mr Palmer said. ''We had ministers calling us and visiting our senators and complaining.''
Labor Senate leader Penny Wong said the government had failed to explain the impact on small and large business from the latest deal with Palmer United Party.
"Australians are entitled to know does the price pass-through apply to all businesses or only to electricity and gas companies," she said.
"Maybe if the government had paid attention to proper process rather than just try to ram these through to get a political win, it may not have been in such a chaotic and shambolic mess," Senator Wong said.
Speaking to reporters after the Senate chaos, Senate Leader Eric Abetz and Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the government would now introduce a set of amended bills to repeal the carbon tax to the House of Representatives on Monday.
The arrogant Abbott government had expected to be celebrating the achievement of its long-term ambition to axe Labor's price on carbon this week, but instead has found itself scrambling day by day to convince the cross bench that it was not just hatching a plot.
Mr Palmer had earlier on Thursday confirmed that his senators would not vote for the carbon tax repeal on Thursday, saying amendments had been lodged with the Senate Clerk’s office at 8.30am.
''We asked that it be distributed and we had a violent action from government, a violent reaction I would say,'' Mr Palmer said. ''We had ministers calling us and visiting our senators and complaining.''
Labor Senate leader Penny Wong said the government had failed to explain the impact on small and large business from the latest deal with Palmer United Party.
"Australians are entitled to know does the price pass-through apply to all businesses or only to electricity and gas companies," she said.
"Maybe if the government had paid attention to proper process rather than just try to ram these through to get a political win, it may not have been in such a chaotic and shambolic mess," Senator Wong said.
No comments:
Post a Comment