The emissions trading scheme, which last year precipitated an implosion in the Coalition and the political execution of then Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull, will loom large again in 2010, and looks set to be the Coalition's key point of attack leading up to a federal election expected in the second half of the year.

New Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has vowed to reject the scheme after ruling out supporting a carbon price, and has focused on the costs the scheme would impose on industry and households.

The Coalition handed the Government a trigger for a double-dissolution election when it rejected the scheme a second time in November.

It is likely to get a second trigger when it reintroduces its bill to means test the private health insurance rebate.

Telstra's 1.4 million shareholders will be keenly awaiting the outcome of legislation to split the telecommunications giant's retail arm from its wholesale arm.

The Government is expected to present the bill in the first session of Parliament this year, when it is likely to receive the support of the Greens and South Australian independent Nick Xenophon, leaving the bill one vote short of passing.

Senator Barnaby Joyce had been expected to provide that vote, but his elevation to shadow cabinet makes that less likely. Instead fellow National Fiona Nash might be the one who gets the bill over the line, given her previous criticism of the impact of Telstra's dominant market position on the bush.

About 150,000 current and prospective students will be hoping the impasse over proposed changes to student-income support can be resolved before the university year starts in late February.

The changes, announced in the budget, seek to redirect assistance to students from low-income families, and away from those, in some cases from wealthy backgrounds, who establish independence from their families by working.

Family First senator Steve Fielding teamed with the Coalition to block the bill in the Senate last year, and MPs returned to their electorates for the summer break leaving students in limbo. The bill would also have created new scholarships to help students with the costs of relocation and textbooks.

* With ARI SHARP