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Labour's fallback options for passing its flagship emissions trading scheme into law are dwindling, with United Future confirming it will oppose the legislation and the Maori Party voicing significant concerns about it.
Labour is locked in talks with the Greens and New Zealand First as it attempts to get its major climate change policy passed through Parliament. It now appears a combination of those two parties is one of the only realistic options Labour has left as it tries to cobble together a majority of 61 votes.
Both the Greens and New Zealand First are discussing with Labour some form of compensation for households affected by the rising costs that the emissions trading scheme will bring.
But United Future leader Peter Dunne - who is one of the Labour-led Government's support partners - yesterday said his own concerns had met with deaf ears in the Beehive and his party's two votes would go against the legislation.
Mr Dunne said that even if the parties still talking with Labour did manage to secure some kind of compensation, the cost was too great for households to bear given rising petrol, food and mortgage bills.
"As a confidence and supply partner of Labour, United Future is disappointed the Government has failed to talk to us about this important issue," Mr Dunne said.
The decision of United Future to oppose the legislation was not a surprise, but there will be considerable interest in the views of the Maori Party, which holds four votes. Co-leader Tariana Turia issued a statement last night highlighting major concerns with the legislation.
While her party has not formalised a position yet, Mrs Turia's statement labelled the emissions trading scheme a rip-off for taxpayers which hurt poor families the most. She said the scheme that came out of a select committee on Monday was "not fair and not transparent", and she highlighted that big businesses and farmers were getting off "scot free" for years.
The Maori Party's concerns about the fairness of the scheme for taxpayers may not be easy to quell. That leaves Labour trying to stitch together a deal with New Zealand First and the Greens, with time running out before the election to pass the bill into law.
