July 31, 2011.
BRITAIN'S Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, has
personally congratulated Julia Gillard on her carbon tax policy
in a letter penned from the desk of 10 Downing Street.
In a clear embarrassment to the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and his Coalition - who have vehemently opposed any price on carbon - Mr Cameron described the federal Labor government's move on climate change as "bold" and "ambitious".
Mr Cameron said he was convinced climate change was one of the "most pressing threats to [a nation's] prosperity and security".
"I have always been clear that in order to tackle it [climate change] effectively, all major economies will need to take robust action to curb their emissions and put their economies on a more sustainable, low-carbon footing," he said.
The Tory Prime Minister - who, like Ms Gillard, leads a minority government cobbled-together in a coalition of unlikely and ideologically contrasted political allies - reiterated his stance that the world's largest economies had a responsibility to address climate change.
"Your announcement sends a strong and clear signal that Australia is determined to make its contribution to addressing this challenge," he said. "It will add momentum to those, in both the developed and developing world, who are serious about dealing with this urgent threat."
Mr Cameron's letter, dated July 22, is the second high-profile endorsement for Labor's carbon tax plans in less than a week, after former British Labour prime minister Tony Blair, in Australia for a series of corporate speaking events, said reducing carbon-fuel dependence was an "intelligent" move being adopted around the world, during a joint press conference with Ms Gillard.
News of the communique is
unlikely to be received well by Mr Abbott
, who attended the Conservative Party's annual conference in London in 2010 shortly after he became Opposition Leader and was seen to be aligning policy values with his British Conservative counterpart.
The British government has undertaken a target of a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2025
- vastly more than both the Australian government and opposition, which have each committed to a 5 per reduction by 2020.
Mr Abbott - who claimed last week that he had never supported a carbon tax or emissions-trading scheme
- was forced recently to back comments made by his shadow cabinet colleague, former opposition leader
Malcolm Turnbull, who praised Mr Cameron as a visionary on climate change
.
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