MALCOLM TURNBULL has demanded more detail from the Rudd Government in order to meet its October 19 deadline of finalising Coalition amendments to the emissions trading scheme.
Mr Turnbull sent Mr Rudd a letter last night demanding the Government release the regulations which will add crucial detail about how the scheme would work. The Government does not plan to finalise the regulations until after the Copenhagen climate change summit.
"In order to enable intelligent and diligent consideration of your proposed scheme, and constructive engagement in the legislative process, we would welcome the early tabling or sharing of all outstanding draft regulations with the Opposition," Mr Turnbull says.
And before voting on any amendments Mr Turnbull also demands the release of a government-commissioned report by Morgan Stanley which is believed to have found detrimental effects for the electricity generation sector caused by the emissions trading scheme.
The demands are in response to the letter the Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, sent Mr Turnbull on Tuesday demanding the Coalition present the changes it wants by October 19 or be frozen out of the process and risk an early election.
The prospect of the Coalition having a united position in a month was remote yesterday with the Nationals' Senator Barnaby Joyce dismissing the exercise as fantasy.
Liberals keen to crunch a deal were privately urging yesterday for the shadow cabinet to agree to a formal separation between the Coalition partners on the issue so an amended scheme could be passed by Christmas and the threat of an early election removed.
The Government will reintroduce a bill in mid-November. In the absence of agreed amendments, Senator Wong said the Government would reintroduce the same bill the Senate rejected in August. If rejected again, the Government would have an early election trigger.
Kevin Rudd, defended the deadline. "This isn't just a piece of, you know, political slap and tickle here, this is a serious piece of legislation," he said.
"You can't at 30-minutes to midnight say 'here are 16 technical amendments'."
Mr Turnbull said he would not be tied to a precise date.
If he missed the deadline, so be it. "We're ready for an election any time," he said.
Even if the Coalition met the deadline, there was still no guarantee it would vote for the scheme in November, he said.
Ian Macfarlane, who is overseeing the Opposition process, told the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday he was "optimistic" about drafting amendments that would keep the Nationals onside.
But Senator Joyce said the exercise was pointless because the amendments would be based on nine demands the Coalition issued previously, all of which have been rubbished by the Government. "Why are we doing this funny little dance? Let's get this rubbish over and done with," he said.
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