But Malcolm Turnbull has cited the fact that the regulations are not all available as a key reason to delay a Senate vote on the laws, and chastised business leaders at a closed-door breakfast meeting this week for not attacking the government over the lack of regulatory detail.
“The scheme itself is comprised by regulations, which have not been published … where are the business leaders … saying ‘this is madness, you cannot possibly have a parliament passing an emissions trading scheme sight unseen?” the Opposition Leader asked Business Council of Australia chief executives on Wednesday.
The Australian Industry Greenhouse Network said yesterday the government had released just 18 out of possibly 100 or more definitions of the specific “activities” that would qualify for compensation under the scheme.
And it said the regulations made it clear that “an industry’s fate in qualifying for emission-intensive trade-exposed status is entirely in the minister’s hands and completely outside the legislation, and therefore has no avenue for legal appeal”.
The AIGN said the crucial definitions should be included in the legislation itself, and said there remained scores of unanswered questions about how the compensation scheme would work.
But Greens deputy leader Christine Milne said the regulations were far too generous to industry.
“These draft regulations confirm that the (emissions trading scheme) will be a multi-billion-dollar wealth transfer from the people to the polluters who actively stand in the way of protecting the climate,” Senator Milne said.
The emissions trading laws will be debated in the Senate next week, but Coalition and independent senators are likely to defer a vote until August or September.
Senator Wong said the government would continue to try to bring the legislation to a vote.
“Well, we are pressing for a vote next week, we are pressing for the legislation to be passed, and that remains the government’s position,” she said.
“We are very clear — this is legislation in the national interest. Mr Turnbull needs to listen to the business community, and he needs to listen to the Australian people. He needs to stop listening to those in his own partyroom who don’t want action on climate change.”