Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has publicly called for the Liberal Party to have the suggested amendments to the scheme ready by October 20, a move Turnbull has labelled as a stunt.

In a response available on his website, Turnbull said it made absolutely no sense to force a vote on the scheme in November when it could be done in February when everyone was more fully informed.

The CPRS was shot down by a 12-seat Senate margin in August, but the proposed scheme has another chance in mid-November.

If the Rudd government’s CPRS, in its current form, is blocked again, the government will be able to call a double dissolution and therefore call an early federal election.

But a Minerals Council of Australia spokesperson previously told ILN that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had ruled out an early election and said his party would modify the CPRS bill, thus eliminating the potential double dissolution trigger.

Several independent reports forecast the CPRS will cost thousands of coal mining jobs and will threaten future mining investment.

Xstrata Coal group executive Mick Buffier has already stated the scheme would be a major impediment to future investment and needed to be more aligned to other nations.

“Coverage of fugitive emissions from coal mining has not been attempted anywhere globally,” he said at the NSW Mineral Exploration & Investment conference last month.