Australian parliament votes for carbon tax

Nov 8, 2011, 3:33 GMT

Sydney - Australia's 500 biggest polluters are to pay a carbon tax from July under legislation approved by Parliament on Tuesday.

The tax is to be levied at 23 Australian dollars (23 US dollars) per ton and would be used to compensate households and industries like steelmaking whose international competitiveness would be affected.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott, whose Liberal Party is far ahead in opinion polls, has made a 'pledge in blood' to rescind the tax if he wins the next election expected in 2013.

'The longer this tax is in place, the worse the consequences for the economy, jobs and families,' he said. 'It will drive up the cost of living, threaten jobs and do nothing for the environment.'

Greens leader Bob Brown, who gave the minority Labor government the votes it needed to pass the bills, said 'people 50 or 500 years from now will thank us for the passage of this legislation.'

Days before the August 2010 election, Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised that there would be no carbon tax under a government she led.

She changed her mind to repay the Greens and independents for their help in bringing her to power.