“Assistant Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has ruled out coal sector amendments to the ETS that are crucial to the Coalition’s nine specific issues requiring action in negotiation with the government,” said The Nationals’ Senator Ron Boswell today. “At a Washington Roundtable on 4 October, Minister Combet told his audience:- ‘Assistance for the coal sector is one of the key issues that the Opposition party in Australia has flagged that it will seek to negotiate with the Government on in the lead up to the vote in the Senate in November.  However, the Government has been clear that it is not willing to entertain exclusion of the coal sector from the CPRS – fugitive emissions from the coal sector represent around 5 per cent of Australia’s emissions, compared with about 1 per cent of US emissions. Excluding these emissions would only shift and increase the cost of the abatement effort to other sectors and households. Similarly the Government is not willing to entertain giving assistance to all coal mines under its emissions intensive trade exposed (EITE) assistance program or some variation’.” “Malcolm Turnbull noted yesterday that Kevin Rudd is proposing to impose a heavy carbon tax on our coal industry, our biggest exporter, that has no counterpart and will have no counterpart in either the United States or Europe.” “The Coalition’s Specific Issues Point 4 says that fugitive emissions from coal should be treated the same as in the US and Europe, and Combet has explicitly rejected that.” “In refusing to entertain EITE assistance, Combet has also cruelled all hope for the Australian coal industry to receive at least equivalent treatment to the US as called for in Specific Issues 1and 3 of the Coalition’s position.” “Labor is obviously not committed to a sincere negotiation process with the Coalition. It has already knocked key Coalition negotiating points out of the ring.” “Senator Wong’s reiterated commitment today to negotiate in good faith with the Coalition is belied by her junior Minister’s refusal to budge on coal, thereby sabotaging the negotiation process.”  Senator Boswell said that negotiation with the government was not looking good as far as Coalition amendments were concerned. “We can go through the motions but it is clear the government has already made a huge dint in what the Coalition seeks to achieve through this process.” ENDS