RIGHT-WING Prime Minister Tony Abbott reintroduced legislation to the Australian parliament today to repeal the carbon tax on the nation’s worst greenhouse gas polluters.

The opposition Labour and Green parties had used their senate majority in March to block several Bills that would remove the AU$24.15 (£13.38) tax per ton of carbon dioxide that was introduced by the Labour government in July 2012. 

But, with new senators to take their seats on July 7 for the first time since Mr Abbott’s conservative coalition took power in September, the Bills are now expected to be passed by a narrow margin. 

Coal mining magnate and carbon tax hater Clive Palmer leads four new senators who have promised their allegiance to his influential Palmer United Party.

While introducing the Bills to the house of representatives, where the government holds a clear majority, Mr Abbott claimed yesterday that voters had rejected the tax by electing his government.

Mr Abbott said scrapping the tax would reduce household electricity bills by AU$200 (£111) a year and natural gas bills by AU$70 (£39) a year. 

The Bills are expected to be passed by the house of representatives this week before going to the senate next month.

Mr Abbott plans to replace the tax with a taxpayer-funded AU$2.55 billion (£1.4bn) fund to pay industry incentives to use cleaner energy.

Australia is one of the world’s worst greenhouse gas polluters due to its heavy reliance on coal in unmodified power stations.