The Australian parliament has rejected government plans
to introduce ambitious carbon trading scheme to tackle global warming.
If the government is defeated again,
it could trigger a general election.
Nick Bryant reports from Sydney.
The emissions trading scheme
was a centerpiece of the Rudd government environmental strategy.
Its aim was to cut greenhouse emissions by 5% over the next ten years.
Yet the Rudd government does not control the upper hand
of the Australian parliament, the Senate.
And the measure has been defeated by 42 votes to 30.
Outside the ruling Labor Party,
this was a friendless measure.
Greens senators have called for more stringent reductions.
The opposition Liberal Party
believed the scheme would hamper the all imported mining sector
that was being rushed through parliament without proper consultation.