Onwards to 15 August

The Australian reported it as if it was inevitable, but the final vote for the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Bill 2011 did not make it onto the schedule of the Senate today. The Opposition wanted to stop the Bill, saying there are too many unknowns and issues left in the hands off the Minister and his expert panel. We complain about bureaucratic interference, but we would rather have a CFI that is a work in progress rather than wait while department's imagine how the details will be. The fact that there is still a lot of the detail that we can help develop that detail (via the meths process). It would be unkind to suggest that the Liberals want to be able to say they support the CFI but not in this form. It allows the to say No while still being nice to farmers..// The Nats - apart from Senator Nash - have a catatonic reaction to anything with the word 'carbon' in it. When did they last stand up for farmers? We have to wait until 15 August for next sitting. But meths are still being processed. ONWARDS!