* Govt to pursue carbon price, but shield coal miners
* New cabinet signals conciliation, negotiation
* Changes possible to mine tax, emissions policies
By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Australia's new climate change minister Greg Combet said on Monday the government would continue its push to price carbon emissions, but reassured the powerful coal industry that he would also shield its future.
Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter and the appointment of Combet, a former union leader and ruling Labor party trouble-shooter, signals a more conciliatory approach by Prime Minister Julia Gillard towards climate policy, twice rejected by the last parliament.
A controversial new tax on mining company profits may also benefit from the government's desire to strike compromises on key legislature, experts say.
"Combet's proven himself a very good negotiator, so his appointment is a very good one," said Australian National University political analyst Norman Abjorensen.
After a dead-heat election last month, Gillard must now rely on the support of three independents and one Green MP to pass laws in the lower house of parliament, and then a hostile Senate where Greens will soon wield balance of power. [ID:nSGE68A003]
There have been industry concerns the Labor Party alliance with the Greens could put more pressure on mining, particularly on polluting coal. But Combet told The Australian newspaper it was not part of his job to shut down the coal industry. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For full Australian election cover [ID:nAUVOTE] For a factbox on the mining tax [ID:nSGE687023]
Australia political risks: http://r.reuters.com/gan92n
For an election graphic: http://link.reuters.com/cyq79n ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Gillard's will be the first minority government since World War Two, raising concerns the administration will be unstable and may not run its full term.
Combet's promotion on Saturday was the biggest switch in a cabinet leaning heavily on former union chiefs and negotiators, including Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean, one of Labor's most senior ministers, now charged with keeping the three kingmaker independents MPs on side with Labor. [nSGE68B01E]
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, who retained his job, will steer delivery of a 30 percent profits tax on coal and iron miners from 2012, and which already has one independent, Andrew Wilkie, warning he could vote down if there were no changes.
"The mining tax is in good hands. Where it goes from here, we will have to wait and see, but in terms of having skilled negotiators in place, the cabinet is not a bad set of appointments," said Abjorensen.
The Australian newpaper said Gillard's new cabinet signalled "a welcome return to economic pragmatism". "The Gillard team, especially Mr Combet's Climate Change appointment, suggests the new government will be growth-oriented," it added.
Treasurer Wayne Swan also stays in place, reassuring finance markets on macro-economic policy.
CLIMATE POLICY
Gillard went to voters promising to cut carbon emissions by at least 5 percent by 2020, and to seek consensus for Labor's plan for carbon emissions trading, shelved until at least 2013 in the face of opposition in the obstructive upper house Senate.
Combet, whose electorate north of Sydney is a coal mining seat, told the Australian the push for renewable energy would not cost Australia a cornerstone of its economy.
"You don't take the back of the axe to the fundamentals of the Australian economy," he said in interview. "I've got a responsibility to support those people's jobs," he said in a conciliatory message to top coal producers Macarthur Coal <MCC.AX>, Centennial Coal <CEY.AX> and Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>.
One of Combet's first jobs will be to establish a cross-party climate change committee to look at global warming, which was the centrepiece of the deal with the Greens.
"Mr Combet was previously a minister assisting (the climate change minister) so he is already up the learning curve. That might help keep things moving along," said David Pearce, from the Centre for International Economics, a private climate-change policy consultancy.
Combet told The Age newspaper that his approach would be based on "discussion, negotiation, consultation, building consensus", but left open the possibility of policy changes.
"Greg Combet has to prove it really is possible to do what has so far been impossible for the Labor government - win acceptance for a price on carbon," said the paper's veteran political editor Michelle Grattan.
(Additional reporting by Ed Davies and Mark Bendeich in SYDNEY; Editing by Michael Perry and Miral Fahmy)
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