Isra-Mart srl :Greens join Labor despite unresolved price on carbon

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Isra-Mart srl news:

The Australian Greens have joined forces with the Labor Party in a signing agreement on Wednesday despite not seeing eye to eye on the issue of a price on carbon.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Labor and Australian Greens leader Bob Brown signed the deal to ensure that newly elected lower house greens member of parliament (MP) Adam Bandt will support the formation of a minority Labor government.

With 88.3% of votes counted at the end of Wednesday, the Australian parliament remains hung with the ruling Labor and opposition Liberal-National coalition each holding 73 seats.

Gillard has agreed to some wide ranging demands from the Greens in securing this one vote to level with the opposition.

The signing agreement stipulates that Australia must tackle climate change and that reducing carbon pollution by 2020 will require a price on carbon.

Labor and the Greens will form a Climate Change Committee of experts and representatives from the parliament who are committed to combat climate change.

By the end of September this year, the structure, membership and work plan of the committee will be finalised.

In renewable energy, the Greens has advocated for a national gross feed-in tariff (FIT) that would pay a uniform premium rate for all electricity generated by large and small renewable energy systems, from home solar energy systems to big wind farms.

At present, Australia has a fragmented (FIT) system with various states having their own programmes and premium rate is paid only on surplus electricity generated that is not consumed.

While there is no direct agreement on this subsidy scheme this time round, the FIT remains “a key legislative priority for us”, a Greens spokesman tells Recharge.

Other concessions secured by the Greens include progress in the areas of dental heath care, railway transport and recognising Indigenous Australians.

Both Labor and Liberal-National are three seats short of the 76-seat majority needed to form government.