Fear campaign running out of puff: PM

21 Aug 2012, 6:19 pm   -   Source: AAP
The Climate Commission on Tuesday released a report which suggests by next year 33 countries and 18 sub-national jurisdictions will have a carbon price in place. (AAP)

The Climate Commission on Tuesday released a report which suggests by next year 33 countries and 18 sub-national jurisdictions will have a carbon price in place. (AAP)

Julia Gillard says the opposition's "destructive, negative fear campaign" against Labor's controversial carbon tax is running out of puff.

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the coalition's fear campaign against the carbon tax is running out of puff as Labor's standing in the opinion polls is improving.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott used the second anniversary of the 2010 election to ask the prime minister again to apologise for falsely promising there'd be no carbon tax under her government.

Ms Gillard responded, as she always does, by insisting pricing pollution was the right thing to do.

Then she turned her sights on Mr Abbott.

"The leader of the opposition can see the time now where his destructive, negative, fear campaign is going to run out of puff," the Labor Leader told parliament on Tuesday.

The latest Newspoll has the government's primary vote up two percentage points to 35 per cent. However, Labor is still trailing on a two-party preferred basis on 47 per cent against 53 per cent for the coalition.

Mr Abbott refused to comment when quizzed about the fact Labor's support had climbed after the $23-a-tonne carbon tax started on July 1.

But chief climate commissioner Tim Flannery was less reluctant to speak out.

He believes people have developed a greater understanding of the tax's real-world impact since July 1.

"The experience we're hearing back from a lot of people is that a lot of the fear has gone out of it," Prof Flannery told AAP.

The Climate Commission on Tuesday released its third major report which suggests by next year 33 countries and 18 sub-national jurisdictions will have a carbon price in place.

This will cover around 850 million people, 30 per cent of the global economy and 20 per cent of global emissions.

Speaking at the report launch via a video presentation, former US vice-president Al Gore praised Canberra's "historic achievement" in pricing pollution.

"This year in Australia for the first time, in a move that has inspired the world - I hear it everywhere - carbon polluters are being held accountable for the global warming pollution they pour into the atmosphere," Mr Gore said.

"I salute Australia's strong commitment to solving the climate crisis."

Opposition climate action spokesman Greg Hunt says the commission's report actually shows Australia is "on its own with the broadest carbon tax" in the world.

"Countries are saying yes to action but no to a carbon tax," Mr Hunt said in a statement.

But Climate Change Minister Greg Combet suggested the United Kingdom could have a $24-a-tonne carbon price in 2013, while Ireland's would be upwards of that. Sweden and Norway had much higher prices too, he told Sky News.

"There are prices above and below our carbon price."

Mr Combet implored Mr Abbott "to try telling the truth for once".

"Is it ignorance or is it pure mendacity?" he asked of the Liberal leader's line that the rest of the world wasn't acting.

Tuesday's report suggests 90 countries representing 90 per cent of the global economy have committed to limiting their emissions.

Greens leader Christine Milne said the next step for Australia was to "export the design of our carbon pricing mechanism" to other nations.

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