The government must now wait three months before it can bring the legislation before Parliament again, but it will take the arrival of new senators in July to produce a different outcome. Labor had proposed axing the carbon tax and moving to an ETS from July 1 but this was opposed by both the government and the Greens. “Labor has been upfront about our intentions since before the 2013 election – we will repeal the carbon tax if there is a credible plan to address climate change,” opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler said. “Along with the rest of the world, Labor knows the best alternative is an ETS. “Australia cannot afford to do nothing on pollution.

“Direct Action is not a credible alternative.” The government has been trying to pass the carbon tax repeal bills as a matter of priority since December, but has faced an impasse in the hostile Senate. If the legislation was to fail again, it would provide a trigger for a double dissolution election. The Senate had previously defeated two other bills linked to the Gillard-era climate laws - one to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Climate Change Authority. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously said that the Coalition would "do whatever we need to do" to scrap the carbon tax, but stopped short of promising a double dissolution.

Greens leader Christine Milne said in a statement her party had ‘‘rejected Tony Abbott’s do-nothing approach on global warming’’. “No one should give up on the current law. It has the support of leading economists like Ken Henry, Ross Garnaut and Bernie Fraser whilst Tony Abbott’s phoney alternative is friendless,’’ she said. Environment Minister Greg Hunt accused Labor and the Greens of “weeks of effectively filibustering” on the carbon tax. Mr Hunt said the government would not stop until its election pledge was fulfilled but it would consult on the timing of reintroducing the legislation. He said the Parliament should respect “the will of the Australian people” and repeal the carbon tax.

“My belief is the new Senate is showing all the signs of respecting that,” he said. In question time on Thursday, Mr Abbott described the tax as “an act of economic vandalism”. “It's an act of economic vandalism that this government will remove and members opposite will keep defending while there's political breath in their body because whatever they say to the people, when it comes to this Parliament, they support the Greens,” he said. With AAP Follow us on Twitter

