Certain industries could be made exempt from the Renewable Energy Target, but the change will not come quickly enough for the Opposition.

Labor had attempted to gain immediate exemption for a range of emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries (EITEs) - such as aluminium refineries – from penalties under the green power scheme, but its proposal has been swiftly rejected.

The Australian Aluminium Council says the industry will be slugged with a bill between $50 million and $80 million if the scheme continues as-is for another year, and unions fear it will cost jobs too, if a deal on the RET is not reached within a few weeks.

Both sides appear to agree that something should be done before the industries become liable under the RET for another year, but the Federal Government says it cannot happen immediately.

Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane says the exemption should not be granted through regulation, and would require new legislation to be passed, but Labor says it has advice from the Parliamentary Library telling it the change could come from regulation.

“The [Renewable Energy (Electricity)] Act doesn't provide the ability through regulation to provide a total exemption for EITEs. It does allow partial exemption but not total,” Mr Macfarlane told the ABC.

“The Labor party should know that because they administered the renewable energy target for six years in Government,” he said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says that is not the case.

“Either this Government doesn't care about protecting these jobs or it is so incompetent that it's failed to examine how the exemptions actually operate,” he told reporters.

The Government has again stated its unwillingness to allow the amount of renewable energy to be generated under the RET – currently at 41,000 gigawatt hours – to be moved to a number anywhere above 32,000 gigawatt hours.

“We are at the top limit of what we believe the safe band in terms of the scheme being sustainable, it's now up to industry to make the next move,” Mr Macfarlane said.