The government has edged closer to abolishing Labor's climate change laws with a vote to axe the carbon tax to happen as soon as Wednesday.
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But as debate started in the Senate on Tuesday, new details of Clive Palmer's proposed zero-dollar emissions trading scheme emerged, and Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party senator Ricky Muir signalled plans to punch a further $1.3 billion hole in the federal budget by trying to save the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
By the end of the week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government should achieve its long-cherished ambition to abolish the carbon tax, but it is increasingly clear the Palmer United Party intends to inflict maximum political chaos in the process.
In the Senate on Tuesday, Labor and the Greens attacked the government for a ''backward'' step that would be condemned by future generations, while Palmer United senators, who support the tax's abolition, moved an amendment to ensure power companies pass on to consumers the full cost savings from the removal of the carbon tax. The amendment will force power companies to display the savings from the repeal of the carbon tax on each household bill.
Debate on the repeal of the carbon tax continued in the Senate on Tuesday evening, but a vote was not expected until Wednesday at the earliest.
The Palmer United Party was also finalising details of its emissions trading scheme on Tuesday and expects to bring an extraordinary 300-page amendment to the Senate next week.
The amendments will halt the abolition of the Climate Change Authority, allocate new money to the agency and put it in charge of monitoring climate action by Australia's five major trading partners.
Under the Palmer plan, the ETS will lie dormant with a starting price of zero dollars. It would become active when the US, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and China are judged to have taken major action to reduce emissions on a nationwide basis.
The authority would be responsible for advising the government when that has occurred.
The ETS is likely to fail in the House of Representatives even if it passes the Senate. But Mr Palmer has said support for Direct Action from the PUP was contingent on government support for his ETS, potentially setting up a stand-off.
