VIDEO: Two faces of Australia carbon tax

Australia on Sunday introduced a controversial carbon tax in a bid to tackle climate change, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard hailing the move amid opposition warnings it will stifle industry.The tax on corporate pollution, which led to demonstrations across the vast nation, will force about 350 major polluters to pay Aus$23 (US$23.5) for every tonne of carbon they produce.

Australia announced plans on Sunday to tax carbon pollution at Aus$23 (US$24.74) per tonne to help battle climate change, as it moved towards creating the region's biggest emissions trading scheme.Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there would be a fixed price on carbon pollution, blamed for global warming, from next year before an emissions trading scheme was introduced in 2015."We have had a long debate about climate change in this country," Gillard said in a rare televised address to the nation.

When Australia brought in their carbon tax I thought they?d done pretty well and I said so. Finally someone had actually got it right: to curb climate change we don?t in fact want to change the general tax level rather, we just want to change some relative prices. Thus raise taxes on carbon emissions but ...

Australia's powerful coal industry on Wednesday urged Canberra to "go back to the drawing board" on its proposed carbon tax, warning it would hurt the economy for no environmental benefit.Prime Minister Julia Gillard has proposed putting a price on emissions of carbon, a key element of gases blamed for global warming, from July 2012, in a scheme that will effectively initially operate like a tax.

AFP - Australia's