Senator Brandis: … The Greens are not committed to democratic values. They are a party of zealots. They are a party of cold-eyed fanatics. They are a party that embodies the authoritarian cast of mind.

Senator Joyce: When I think about the environment I think green. I think: 'Well, they're always frolicking around in the mushrooms in the forests with the frogs' - the party for frogs - but, no. It is legal and con. It is social engineering that they are really interested in.

Senator Ian MacDonald: On the point of order, Mr Deputy President: before you take any instructions, I suggest you hear what was actually said to Senator Milne. I repeat it now: 'GetUp! is the Hitler Youth wing of The Greens political movement,' and I stand by that.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3653066.html?WT.svl=theDrum

Australia's landmark carbon-tax legislation is "a great Labor reform" that will guide the nation through a new, clean industrial revolution - and Tony Abbott has no intention of repealing it, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Addressing the CarbonExpo conference in Melbourne this morning, Ms Gillard was asked if her clean-energy reforms came with an "Abbott-proof fence", a reference to the Opposition leader's vow to overturn the legislation if he wins government.

"My prediction would be we are seeing the maximum drama right now but it will abate over time," she said during a question-and-answer session.

She said opposition parties - including Labor - had vowed to reverse major reforms including Medicare and the GST - before realised the errors of their ways.

"The reality is Tony Abbott knows you can't go back (on carbon pricing)," she said.

"This is a great Labor reform and for all the theatre now, Tony Abbott has absolutely no intention of repealing the legislation."

Further back, it is two decades since the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment between Canberra and the states and territories embraced the ''polluter pays'' principle.

In recent years carbon trading has been introduced in the European Union and, on a much smaller scale, in New Zealand.

California plans to start in 2013, with South Korea likely in 2015. Guandong province - a manufacturing stronghold with a population more than five times greater than Australia - is expected to be the first of six Chinese regions and cities to try emissions trading from 2013.

Those acting are only partly driven by concern for the planet. China is as motivated by seizing the economic opportunities in developing clean industries.

Where Australia differs from other countries is the initial scale of its scheme.

Australia also launches into the carbon market when the future of co-ordinated international action looks bleak.

But amid all the uncertainty, the evidence from Europe is that emissions trading is almost the only climate policy to have caused a meaningful cut in carbon dioxide.