Carbon price bill passes Australian lower house

Australian federal government's carbon pricing package on Tuesday passed lower house and move a step closer to becoming law. The lower house in Canberra held an initial vote on the Clean Energy Future Bill 2011 plus 17 associated bills on Tuesday. Labor government won the vote 74-73, with support by Australian Greens member of parliament (MP) Adam Bandt and independents Rob Oakeshott, Andrew Wilkie and Tony Windsor. The House of Representatives also voted on the Steel Transformation Plan Bill 2011, which provides 300 million U.S. dollars to help the steel industry become more competitive once a carbon price is in place. The bill was passed with 75-72. A final lower house vote on the bills will be held on Wednesday morning. The 24 U.S. dollars a tonne of carbon tax is expected to start from July 1, 2012. The tax is set to increase by 2.5 percent each year for three years, and will switch to Emissions Trading Scheme in 2015.