Let's not beat about the bush: putting a price on carbon means asking people to pay more for electricity and other carbon-intensive activities. So how much are we willing to pay?

Tony Abbott thinks the answer is nothing. The opposition imagines it has discovered the political equivalent of Mortein: just one spray about ''a great big new tax on everything'' will knock any policy proposal dead.

I suspect most Australians want to have their climate cake and eat it, too; we want action to curb climate change, but we don't want to pay for it.

Attempts by Julia Gillard and her climate committees to win support for a carbon price will fail if they do not directly address this price hike scare campaign.

To do so, Labor must do what it was so reluctant to do even when holding a majority: tell working families how good they've got it.

Parliamentary Committee To Look At A Carbon Price