The Australian
By: Sid Maher & Patricia Karvelas
Bob Brown vowed to block Tony Abbott's spending cuts but said he would pass climate bills from both parties even if they had no price on carbon.
The Greens leader, campaigning in Adelaide yesterday, also intensified his attack on the mining industry, saying his party wanted uranium mining at the South Australian behemoth Roxby Downs stopped.
He said he would negotiate changes to the $6 billion infrastructure fund that is part of Labor's mining tax to divert funds away from mining infrastructure to high-speed rail, public transport, hospitals and schools.
Mr Brown's comments came as Tony Abbott accused Julia Gillard of doing a "grubby deal" with the Greens on preferences just as she had done secret deals to win the Labor leadership and with the miners to resolve the tax impasse.
The Opposition Leader said a carbon tax would almost certainly be introduced as a result of the deal, and Australians would pay higher electricity prices.
Mr Abbott earlier this week would not commit to such a measure for the Coalition even if there was an international agreement. But his Treasury spokesman, Joe Hockey, appeared to contradict him yesterday.
Mr Hockey said: "Our policy is clear; we wrote it down. We're sticking to 2015. We've got a direct action plan."
Asked if he would block a climate change package without a price on carbon, Senator Brown said: "Goodness, no. We're advocating renewable energy.
"We're advocating energy efficiency and we'll negotiate. "We're in there for better outcomes. But it will be remiss of both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott if they don't get a carbon price."
Speaking on Adelaide radio, Senator Brown said uranium should not be mined at Roxby Downs because it was going to Russia, which had given nuclear technology to Iran, and to China, which had rockets with nuclear warheads capable of reaching Adelaide.
Senator Brown also announced that the Greens would establish a national anti-corruption watchdog to oversee the commonwealth's political and law enforcement establishments.
His proposed integrity and anti-corruption commission would have the power to investigate federal politicians, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Crime Commission.