KEY POINTS:
A mountain of submissions will begin to be heard today on the Government's flagship emissions trading scheme, which has become a more contentious issue than when it was first announced last year.
The Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill will bring into effect the biggest feature of the Government's effort to fight climate change, and it has attracted as many as 259 submissions from the public.
But after being broadly welcomed when its framework was unveiled in September last year, the emissions trading scheme has become more controversial as further detail has been released.
Among the more contentious points on the table are a planned ban on new thermal electricity generation and ongoing questions about deforestation and the treatment of the agriculture sector in the scheme.
Cross-party political support appears to remain for now but the National Party is making it clear it is not entirely happy with every detail being proposed by Labour.
National's climate change spokesman Nick Smith said yesterday that his party was unlikely to support the ban on thermal generation, and would like to see the legislation delayed until it was clearer what the Australian Government would be doing.
"The thermal ban is getting across the board damnation," Dr Smith told the Herald. "I think it's unlikely to survive." He said Australia's Government was looking to have a White Paper on emissions trading completed in July.
National still supported in principle an emissions trading scheme, he said, but the "devil is in the detail as to how we implement it".
The party had not committed to vote for the bill further down the track, and would be working on improving crucial details.
National's commitment to combating climate change came under question in Parliament yesterday when Transport Minister Annette King said National's transport spokesman Maurice Williamson was asked about climate change at the meeting but had refused to answer, saying only that "he wanted to stay a member of the National Party". When asked yesterday Mr Williamson said he supported National's policy position.
