By Maeve Bannister and Andrew Brown in Canberra

FINANCE Minister Katy Gallagher remains confident the government’s signature climate policy will pass the upper house, despite the Greens hitting out at the plan.

Changes to the safeguard mechanism will be debated in the lower house on Monday during what is the final sitting period before the budget is handed down in May.

If passed, it would apply to the 215 biggest emitters in the country and aim to reduce emissions by 205 million tonnes by 2030.
The government sees the proposal as vital to achieving its emissions targets.

But with the coalition opposing it, the government will need the support of the Greens and two other votes in the Senate to pass its election promise to cut carbon emissions.

The Greens have urged the government to stop new coal and gas projects in exchange for their support on the mechanism.

Senator Gallagher said negotiations were continuing with the Greens but she was optimistic of the safeguard’s success.

“We will engage as we do on every piece of legislation because it’s a minority chamber. We have to do that on every single piece of legislation, the safeguards is no different,” she told ABC Radio on Monday.

“We’ve been clear we want this legislation through, it’s critical to meeting our 43 per cent reductions target. It’s the policy that exists now.

“The Greens obviously want some other additional commitments and we’ll work through that over the fortnight.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt said despite its flaws his party was willing to back the bill in exchange for a commitment to stop opening new coal and gas projects.

A Parliamentary Library research brief on domestic coal demand and supply, commissioned by the Greens, found existing mines in Australia were “adequate” to meet coal-fired electricity demand through to 2040.

“There’s enough coal and gas already in the system for the Australian economy to make the transition to renewables,” Mr Bandt said.

“The new coal and gas projects supported by Labor aren’t about powering our economy – they’re about sending profits offshore tax-free.”
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said she largely supported the mechanism but still had concerns about the time frame for reducing emissions for manufacturing businesses.

“It will not be able to meet those targets, simply because the machinery that they need has not been invented yet, so that is a real sticking point with us,” she told Sky News.

“Other than that, we’re pretty happy with the rest of the bill. So we’re just waiting for the Greens to stop playing their games.”

Senator Gallagher said the coalition had dealt itself out of negotiations.

However opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said more information was needed from the government.

“What we want to see is a bit of transparency,” he told Sky News on Monday.

“We want to see the modelling. We want to know what the impact will be on households, what the impact will be on cost of living.”

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the laws should be passed as soon as possible.

“My message to all sides and politics is this: if we want this country to decarbonise, we need policy certainty,” she said.

“The government’s got a very simple bill before the house, let’s pass it. And let’s start to work through the other more complex issues along the way.”