Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's push for a plebiscite on the carbon tax has been howled down by Labor and the Australian Greens as a stunt.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's push for a plebiscite on the carbon tax has been howled down by Labor and the Australian Greens as a stunt.
Mr Abbott plans to introduce a private member's bill which will give voters a say on whether to go ahead with the carbon tax.
He wants the plebiscite, which will cost up to $70 million to run, to take place within 90 days of his bill passing parliament.
"Something of this nature must go to the people before it becomes law," Mr Abbott told ABC Radio.
"This is the vote that the prime minister didn't allow us to have at the last election," he said, referring to Ms Gillard's emphatic statement that no government she led would introduce a carbon tax.
Mr Abbott will need to win the support of the independents and Greens to get the bill through both houses.
Greens leader Bob Brown, who is involved in the carbon pricing talks which are due to be completed within weeks, said the move was a "tricky political manoeuvre" by Mr Abbott and a waste of public money.
He accused the opposition leader of using a double standard and abrogating his responsibilities.
"Why didn't he have a plebiscite on the invasion of Iraq?" Senator Brown told ABC Radio.
"His government of the time didn't even ask the people of Australia about that, didn't ask the parliament."
Government leader in the House of Representatives Anthony Albanese said the "stunt" was part of Mr Abbott refusing to accept the result of the August 2010 federal election.
"What we are seeing is the longest dummy-spit in Australian political history and an attempt to impose it on the Australian body politic," he said.
"We will have a parliamentary vote on any legislation regarding action on climate change."
The government wants to put a fixed price on carbon from July 1 next year, followed by an emissions trading scheme within three to five years.
