Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday demanded Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull guarantee his divided party would vote on an emissions trading scheme (ETS) by the end of next week.

There is a growing push in the Coalition to launch a last-ditch attempt to secure party room support to delay a vote until after Copenhagen talks.

It follows Senate leader Nick Minchin's call on Thursday for a delay in the vote until after Copenhagen.

Australian Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner accused Minchin of "incubating a rural militia from the backwoods of Montana", and warned Turnbull he was being held hostage by the "wackier" end of the Liberal Party.

The Prime Minister said Minchin's comments represented the "destructive" end of the debate.

Seizing on opposition spokesman Ian Macfarlane's concession that the government had a "mandate" to introduce the scheme, Rudd said the Liberal leader must now guarantee his troops would vote before Parliament rises for the year.

"Stand up today and confirm there will be a vote on the CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme)," he demanded.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2009)