16 per cent of voters want the carbon tax kept

Abbott has a mandate.

Only 16 per cent of voters want the carbon tax kept.

Mr Abbott is demanding the Senate vote on his carbon tax repeal bills before Christmas.

The repeal package cleared its first hurdle in the lower house last week, but the real battle to axe the tax begins in the Senate in early December.

Labor and the Australian Greens have vowed to block the laws in the Senate, and they collectively hold the balance of power until the upper house changeover in July.