MALCOLM Turnbull is fighting to secure the support of his partyroom for Labor’s emissions trading scheme deal after Liberal frontbencher Andrew Robb urged a no vote until after Copenhagen. The party’s climate change spokesman, who has been on leave due to depression, sparked applause in the partyroom when he declared his hand. He joins Senate leader Nick Minchin and frontbencher Tony Abbott in abandoning the leader’s push for a deal, leaving him isolated from his own frontbench. Mr Robb’s dramatic intervention today came amid anger in today’s meeting over chief negotiator Ian Macfarlane’s revelations that Labor predicated talks on the expectation of no deal at Copenhagen. And rebel MPs predict leadership talk could also erupt as MPs consider the question of a secret ballot.
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