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Australia has rejected a statement of support for reform of fossil fuel subsidies after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made a last-minute call to break the news to New Zealand counterparts on Sunday night in Paris.
The statement, which was launched at the first full day of the Paris climate summit, will see almost 40 countries sign a communique committing to promote the phase out of inefficient government subsidies for the use of coal, gas and oil. 
Organisers had hoped Australia would also get on board. But with rural and conservative MPs in the Coalition revolting back home in Canberra, Australia has decided not to put its name to the statement.
In the discussions over the statement Australia had expressed some concern about the use of an International Monetary Fund definition of subsidy, which the French had wanted included.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull later said the document contained a "rather gratuitous reference to an IMF report which goes much much further than inefficient fuel subsidies".
Mr Turnbull said the IMF report effectively argued that not having a carbon tax in place was a fossil fuel subsidy. The IMF argues that if the full economic costs that burning fossil fuels causes is not factored in the use of coal, oil and gas is effectively subsidised.
Australia has already signed up to what some might consider tougher language on fossil fuel subsidies - which are effectively government incentives making it cheaper to use, coal, gas or oil - through the G20, which in 2009 committed to phasing out inefficient subsidies.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key joined the UN climate change head Christiana Figueres, Chile President Michelle Bachelet, Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven and Danish Prime Minister Lar Lokke Rasmussen in launching the fossil fuel subsidy reform statement.
Back home in Australia fossil fuel subsidies has been a tricky issue with a major between dispute between environmentalists and industry over whether a diesel rebate for farm and mine trucks should be considered. 
The Australian Conservation Foundation has said the diesel rebate would cost Australians $26 billion over the next four years. But mining and farm groups say the rebate compensates them for tax paid on fuel used in off-road vehicles that is being collected for road maintenance.
It is unclear that signing up to the fossil fuel subsidy statement would have actually required Australia to make any changes to the fuel tax credit for miners and farmers.
Mr Turnbull declared that the diesel fuel rebate was not a subsidy. And he said Australia did not have any inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
When the prospect of Australia signing up to the statement emerged over the weekend it sparked anger among some Coalition MPs, who voiced vocal opposition to the idea. Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen on twitter said "this communique, if signed, will cost coal mining jobs. For sake of NQ jobs, I oppose this."
Asked about the debate, opposition leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Paris: "Labor doesn't have a policy to scrap the diesel fuel rebate  at all."
The International Energy Agency this month noted that fossil fuel subsidies continue to outpace those for renewable energy by a factor of more than four-to-one. In 2014, those subsidies totalled $US490 billion ($695 billion) compared with $US112 billion for clean energy sources in the power sector.
with Peter Hannam
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