As many implied when the Greens did not support the Labor Government's Emissions Trading Scheme: They will live to regret it. This certainly seems to be the case when the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard says an ETS will have to wait until a clear majority of Australians support such a scheme. The Greens acted to block the ETS when they did not get everything they wanted. It was a silly thing to do. After all, any scheme is better than no scheme at all.
Labor bent over backwards to get the Greens to support the policy. The scheme was extremely weak compared to the original plan. But no, the Greens wanted a draconian pollution reduction program in place. Now there will not be an ETS for many years. Even if Julia Gillard calls a double dissolution and wins the next election it seems unlikely that Labor will get control of the upper house. Indeed, the troublesome Family First and Independent could lose their seats to the coalition.
Ironically, the Greens actually did Labor a favor. By killing the ETS more money was there to fatten up government coffers. This took some steam out of the opposition's ongoing complaint about the government deficit.
Australians clearly have a choice at the next election. Either give Labor control of the upper house or forget about ever having an ETS. For a start, the Family First, Independent and Greens could be dumped. This would end the problem of disruptive deadlock on issues. It is not really the opposition that causes legislation to be reviewed constantly. It is those who actually hold the balance of power - the minor parties and Independent.
Labor bent over backwards to get the Greens to support the policy. The scheme was extremely weak compared to the original plan. But no, the Greens wanted a draconian pollution reduction program in place. Now there will not be an ETS for many years. Even if Julia Gillard calls a double dissolution and wins the next election it seems unlikely that Labor will get control of the upper house. Indeed, the troublesome Family First and Independent could lose their seats to the coalition.
Ironically, the Greens actually did Labor a favor. By killing the ETS more money was there to fatten up government coffers. This took some steam out of the opposition's ongoing complaint about the government deficit.
Australians clearly have a choice at the next election. Either give Labor control of the upper house or forget about ever having an ETS. For a start, the Family First, Independent and Greens could be dumped. This would end the problem of disruptive deadlock on issues. It is not really the opposition that causes legislation to be reviewed constantly. It is those who actually hold the balance of power - the minor parties and Independent.
