THE RUDD Government has upped the pressure on the Opposition over the emissions trading scheme by agreeing to exclude agriculture from the legislation to be debated this week.
As negotiations wind down to the crucial vote, the Government will try to force the hand of the Opposition by agreeing to exclude farmers, growers and land owners from its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme a key sticking point thus far of the Opposition's resistance to the Bill.
Federal politicians return to the national capital tomorrow for the final sitting weeks of the year with Government determined to push through its emission trading legislation before the Copenhagen conference next month.
The Government had previously said the agricultural industry would be exempt from any scheme until at least 2015 but a senior Labor source said this would be extended indefinitely.
''Over the next fortnight, the Government is determined to work with the Liberal Party to achieve a negotiated agreement to establish a carbon pollution reduction scheme,'' the source said.
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