Govt vows to bring back carbon tax bills

The Abbott government won't give up the fight to scrap the carbon tax, vowing to take every precaution to ensure the next Senate can abolish it for good in the first half of July.

The government on Thursday failed in its first bid to scrap the tax, with the Senate voting against the package of bills to repeal Labor's carbon pricing scheme.

The legislation can't be brought before parliament again for another three months, but the government is promising it will be back on the agenda at the first possible opportunity.

"We will not stop until the carbon tax is repealed," Environment Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"We will keep going, and we will fulfil our election pledge."

Opposition climate change spokesman Mark Butler said as long as the government was promising to replace carbon pricing with its direct action plan, Labor couldn't support the repeal.

"Without a credible alternative, Labor cannot support the abolition of the existing clean energy policies," Mr Butler said in a statement.

The government also took the opportunity to attack Labor's West Australian senators ahead of the April 5 election re-run in that state, accusing them of putting the carbon tax on "life support".

The government has given up trying to negotiate with the existing Senate, which remains under the control of Labor and the Australian Greens until July.

The arrival of new senators at that time presents the government with its first real opportunity to deliver on its election promise.

Mr Hunt said the government would ensure the legislation was ready for the incoming Senate to consider when it sits for the first time.

"My hope and my belief is that ... the new Senate, in the first two weeks after July, has given all the indications that they will respect the mandate given by the Australian people," he said.

However, the government has another trick up its sleeve.

Thursday marked three months since the Senate defeated a bill to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and the government wasted no time reintroducing the legislation to parliament.

It's expected to pass the lower house, but failing in the Senate again would provide a trigger for a double dissolution election.

Mr Hunt didn't rule that out, saying the government was ensuring its bases were covered.

"We are ensuring that all of the constitutional mechanisms available to this government are present," he said.

The bill could be before the Senate as early as next week.