tvnz.co.nz
Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, reintroduced legislation to the Australian Parliament that would repeal a carbon tax that the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters have to pay.
The opposition centre-left Labor Party and minor Greens party used their Senate majority in March to block the bills that would remove the 24.15 Australian dollar tax per metric ton of carbon dioxide that was introduced by a Labor government in July 2012. The bills were defeated 33 votes to 29.
But with new senators to take their seats on July 7 for the first time since Abbott's conservative coalition government took power in an election in September, the bills are expected to be passed by a narrow margin. Coal mining magnate and carbon tax critic Clive Palmer leads four new senators who have promised their allegiance to his influential Palmer United Party.
While introducing the bills to the House of Representatives where the government holds a clear majority, Abbott said that voters had rejected the tax by electing his government.
"The people have spoken and now it's up to this Parliament to show that it's listening," Abbott said.
