Toby Abbott was been voted the new leader of the federal Liberal Party, and his first act as the opposition leader was to call a party vote on whether or not to oppose the Rudd Government’s proposed Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) legislation. The motion was carried by 54 votes to 29, which all but guarantees the ETS will not pass as Australian law.
This news is the latest development since the former Liberal Party leader, Malcolm Turnbull, endorsed the Rudd government’s proposed ETS after winning several concessions for Australian energy producers. The endorsement resulted in a leadership spill where Turnbull was ousted as leader by just one vote.
The federal Liberal Party’s decision not to support the Rudd government’s ETS puts Australia on the back foot just days before the climate conference in Copenhagen, due to take place in a week’s time, as it will not have any kind of clear policy on climate change. It has been further suggested by political analysts that a failure by the Liberal Party to support the Rudd government’s ETS could become a trigger for a double dissolution, which would lead to an early Federal election.JOIN THE POPSCI AU FACEBOOK GROUP
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