The first of the Abbott government bills to scrap the carbon tax has been defeated in the Senate.
Legislation to dismantle the Climate Change Authority was knocked back in the upper house on Monday by Labor and the Australian Greens.
It is the first bill in a package designed to unwind the Gillard government’s clean energy laws, and has been the subject of protracted debate in the Senate.
The bill was amended by Labor senator Louise Pratt, who wanted to include the Senate’s concerns about what impact scrapping the authority could have on independent climate science.
But a government effort to pass the amended bill at its second reading stage was defeated 38 votes to 32.
It will be three months before the bill can be reintroduced to the Senate, and a second rejection would be a trigger for a double dissolution.
The move will frustrate the government, which has slammed Labor and the Greens for their “industrial go-slow” in the Senate over the repeal bills.
The Greens are already claiming victory, while environment groups are praising senators for keeping the authority temporarily alive.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the authority would now be able to continue its work until the new Senate takes over in July.
“The Climate Change Authority is such an important body because it takes the politics out of setting climate policies,” spokeswoman Victoria McKenzie-McHarg said in a statement.