Nationals to take lead on climate

This is looking like it will turn into a big issue for the Coalition. The Nationals are hoping to take the lead away from the Liberals on the ETS - and given Turnbull's flirtation with Labor, his greener-than-thou position on the ETS sadly makes a lot more sense. From The Australian:

THE Nationals have directly challenged Malcolm Turnbull's authority on climate change, boasting that Liberal MPs are beginning to back their blanket rejection of a carbon emissions trading system.

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said yesterday that despite the Opposition Leader's efforts to negotiate with Kevin Rudd on emissions trading, Liberal MPs were telling him that they, like the Nationals, did not believe in an ETS.

Asked if the Nationals' advocacy was "bringing Liberals along", Senator Joyce said: "I think on this one we are. I think on this one the National Party are leading."
…
Senator Joyce said he was aware of many Liberals who were fervent opponents of the ETS, despite the Liberal leader's search for common ground with the government. "People have woken up to what the ETS is," he said. "It's not going to change the climate. It's just a massive new tax." Senator Joyce said he hoped the Liberals would vote against the ETS when it returned to the parliament for a second vote.

If the Liberals backed the legislation, the Nationals would not budge, he said, arguing that voters would accept that his party had the right to disagree with its Coalition partner.

Read it here.