Sydney, Australia (FT) -- Australia's main opposition Liberal party appointed a climate change skeptic as its leader on Tuesday in a move that all but kills plans by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to have an emissions trading scheme passed into law ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit.

Tony Abbott ousted Malcolm Turnbull to become Australia's fourth leader of the Liberal party in just over two years but only after securing 42 votes against Mr Turnbull's 41.

Mr Abbott, who earlier this year said the argument for climate change "is absolute crap," used his first press conference to take on Mr Rudd's Labor government over the proposed ETS.

A final vote on the ETS has been held up for days in the Senate, Australia's upper house, where the government needs the support of at least seven non-Labor senators to have its legislation passed.

Mr Turnbull last week said the Liberal party backed amended legislation after the government agreed to more than A$7 billion (US$6.4B) of additional compensation payments to polluting industries and excluded the agricultural sector from the scheme.

However, Mr Turnbull's move back-fired as hard-line climate change skeptics within the Liberal party sought to force him from office over the issue.

Mr Abbott, a former health minister in the previous government who trained to be a Catholic priest before entering politics, said on Tuesday he would demand the government's ETS legislation be referred to a Senate committee.

If that demand was refused, the opposition coalition, which also includes the junior National party, would vote down the ETS in a move that would provide Mr Rudd with a trigger to call an early election.

On current polling, the opposition would suffer a bloodbath in an early election, a fact that will not be lost on Mr Rudd who will be angry that his attempt to take a leadership role at Copenhagen has been undermined by the Liberal party's decision to renege on its deal to back the ETS.

Have your say at COP15 -- Join the CNN/YouTube debate

Labour party figures said Mr Abbott's elevation had exposed the Liberal party's "jugular." They also noted that Mr Abbott had failed to put forward any original themes during his first press conference as leader.

Mr Abbott said the ETS was an energy tax that would cost the Australian public A$120B ($110B).

He claimed that Mr Rudd simply wanted to "take a trophy" to Copenhagen and there was no point bringing in the ETS prematurely.

He admitted to past mistakes. "At times I have stuffed up but I believe when you become a new leader you make a new start."

He tried to distance himself from his comment that climate change arguments were "crap." "That was a bit of hyperbole and it was not my most considered opinion," he said.

"I think that climate change is real and that man does make a contribution," he said.

He also claimed the Liberal party would have a "strong and effective" policy on climate change but provided no detail.

Mr Abbott's rise is a surprise even to himself, who until Monday night said he would not stand in the event that Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey put his name forward.

However, Mr Abbott changed his mind after Mr Hockey, seen as the front runner, indicated he would allow Liberal party parliamentarians to make a "free" or "conscience" vote on the ETS in the event he was elected.

Senator Penny Wong, Australia's climate change minister, said "extremists" were now in control of the Liberal party.

"We will not tackle climate change without a global agreement but we will not get a global agreement if Australia is not prepared to stump up."

She added that the time for talking was over.

Australia has had close to a dozen inquiries into climate change and the ETS in the last two years.

© The Financial Times Limited 2009