Coal jobs safe: Combet

The coal industry will have a "good future" under Labor's carbon pricing regime, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says.

The coal industry will have a "good future" under Labor's carbon pricing regime, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says.

And Mr Combet says he's confident of striking a compensation deal with the Greens to protect jobs in heavy polluting industries.

The Gillard government intends to introduce an interim carbon tax by July next year before moving to an emissions trading scheme in three to five years. A multi-party climate change committee is working through the carbon price, as well as compensation levels.

Mr Combet told The Weekend Australian that Labor would demand an "economically sensitive" compensation package in its negotiations on the detail of the carbon pricing package. He said any economic transition driven by the carbon price would take place slowly and not be at the expense of workers in high-polluting industries.

"As a former union official, I am very concerned to make sure that we underpin the jobs in the industries affected most by a carbon price," he said.

Mr Combet, a former union leader whose NSW electorate of Charlton takes in much of the Hunter Valley coalmining area, said the government was "completely committed" to dealing with the high-emissions sectors of the economy that were exposed to foreign competitors "sensitively and to underpin competitiveness".