http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15632160
8 November 2011 Last updated at 02:54 GMT
Australia is the developed world’s worst polluter per head of population
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Australia’s Senate has approved a controversial law on pollution, after years of bitter political wrangling.
The Clean Energy Act will force the country’s 500 worst-polluting companies to pay a tax on their carbon emissions from 1 July next year.
The Senate vote is a victory for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who had given strong backing to the plan.
Environmentalists have broadly backed the scheme, but there have been large public protests against it.
Opposition parties have argued that the tax would cause job losses and raise the cost of living, and they have promised to repeal the legislation if they win the next election.
The government made the scheme the main plank in its climate-change policies.
The bill passed a vote in the lower house last month by just 74 votes for and 72.
The Senate vote was also tight – 36 votes in favour, 32 against – with the government relying on the support of the Greens to get the bill passed.
Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said it was a “victory for the optimists”.
The government has set the initial price per tonne of carbon at A$23 ($23.80; £14.80), much higher than other similar schemes such as in the EU where the price is between $8.70 and $12.60 a tonne.
Australia has been debating pollution-limiting legislation for years.
Former Prime Minster Kevin Rudd swept to power in 2007 after making the carbon tax central to his election campaign.
But his plans were bogged down in political infighting, and analysts have blamed his inability to get the law passed for his eventual ousting by Ms Gillard