Direct Action passes Senate with support of Palmer United Party

Updated

The Federal Government's $2.5 billion climate change policy has passed the Senate.

The Government's Direct Action policy provides financial incentives to businesses to reduce their emissions.

The bill was passed with the support of the Palmer United Party (PUP) and independent senators Nick Xenophon and John Madigan 31 votes to 29.

The Labor Party, led by Senator Lisa Singh, scrutinised the bill over a period of hours.

"It's not worth just ramming it through the Parliament like a rubber stamp," she said.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann argued the bill had been extensively scrutinised.

"In fact, the Coalition has taken our direct action policy to two elections now," he said.

Senator Cormann praised the Palmer United Party for its support of the Government's Direct Action plan.

"I thank the Palmer United Party again for their constructive approach in engaging with the Government in an attempt to find common ground," he said.

"In fact, arguably, the Palmer United Party has achieved more for the environment in three months than the Greens have in all the years they have been here in the Senate."

Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) head Geoff Cousins criticised the legislation for paying polluters to keep polluting.

"It leaves Australia so far behind the rest of the Western world that it is shameful," Mr Cousins, an environmental activist and former Howard government advisor, said.

"We've decided that the ACF has got to be the leading voice in these issues because the politicians are failing us."

The Government made a number of concessions to win support for the bill, including retaining the Climate Change Authority and tasking it with reviewing emissions trading schemes (ETS).

Earlier this week, Environment Minster Greg Hunt said regardless of what the investigation finds, the Government would not implement an ETS.

He said the deal was the only way to get its policy through the Senate.

Mr Hunt said the policy would achieve positive climate outcomes without the need for a large tax.

"This is good news for Australians because instead of a massive tax on electricity and gas and groceries, now we have incentives to clean up waste coal mine gas, to improve energy efficiency for families, to support Indigenous land management, to support better soils in farms," he said.

The bill will return to the Lower House when Parliament resumes next month.

Topics: emissions-trading, government-and-politics, environmental-policy, australia

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