By David Wroe
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Peter Slipper, has taken the unusual step of using his casting vote to save the government from an embarrassing defeat on the floor of the Parliament after a senior minister failed to show for a vote related to the carbon tax.
Mr Slipper, a former Liberal MP who defected from the party and was installed by Labor as Speaker - a neutral position - stepped in at the last moment after the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, failed to show for a vote.
White knight ... Peter Slipper.Credit: Andrew Meares
The resulting vote saved the government from losing part of its carbon tax package - a regulation that stops logging companies claiming renewable energy subsidies by burning waste wood from native forest timber to produce electricity.
The independent MP Rob Oakeshott, who signed up to the government's clean energy package and helped deliver the carbon tax, has in recent weeks moved to challenge the forestry regulation. He launched a controversial push to disallow the regulation, giving forestry companies the green light to earn renewable energy certificates, which can be sold for profit, by burning native forest wood.
It appeared the government and Greens - who were infuriated by Mr Oakeshott's change - had the numbers to reject the move after another independent, Tony Windsor, decided to vote with the government. But when the votes were tallied, it was 72-72. With the government needing a majority, Mr Slipper stepped in and voted against Mr Oakeshott.
In a statement released last month before Mr Slipper took up the crucial position, he said he would follow the conventions set by his predecessor, Harry Jenkins. When making a casting vote, Mr Slipper said he would vote to ''leave a bill in its existing form'' - that is, support the status quo.
The status quo in this case was to support the government.
Mr Slipper was installed by Labor in a manoeuvre orchestrated by the governing party to shore up its numbers.
A spokesman for Mr Bowen, who missed the vote, said the minister was in an ABC interview with radio host Richard Glover when the vote was called. He left the interview but could not reach the chamber in time.
The Greens, who had campaigned hard against Mr Oakeshott's push, expressed their relief after the narrowest of wins.
''The forests of Australia might owe a bit to the Speaker today, but the Speaker was simply following the procedures of this Parliament. It's what any speaker would have done in that situation,'' the Greens MP Adam Bandt said.
''I didn't realise that one of the government's own had gone missing in action. It was then concerning to hear from the Speaker that the vote was tied,'' Mr Bandt said.
''I had my heart in my mouth at that time. I wasn't expecting that, but I think the Speaker has done what is the correct practice.''
Mr Oakeshott's move to disallow the regulation was aimed at waste wood created by timber logging. But environment groups argued it would encourage more logging of native forest, throwing a financial lifeline to the woodchip industry, which is struggling amid slumping exports.