Reuters:

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions are set for almost certain defeat in a hostile Senate after the opposition on Tuesday elected a new leader opposed to the government’s carbon trading scheme.
Australia’s new opposition leader, Tony Abbott, said opposition Senators would reject the government’s carbon-trade laws if they are not deferred until early 2010. Abbott said he was not afraid of fighting an election on climate change.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has struggled to have his carbon-trade laws passed in the Senate, which is expected to vote on the legislation this week before parliament adjourns until February.
If the upper house rejects the carbon scheme for a second time, Rudd will have a trigger to call an early 2010 election on climate change, with polls suggesting his government would be returned with an increased majority.
If Rudd wins a double dissolution election of both houses of parliament, he can then push his laws through a special joint sitting of the houses.
Abbott said he believed in climate change and that man contributed to global warming, but was opposed to the government’s ETS model, labeling it a A$120 billion ($110 billion) tax.
“A majority (of Australians) say there should be no ETS before Copenhagen,” Abbott told a news conference.