Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent
From: The Australian July 21, 2011 12:00AM
Spreading fear: Julia Gillard says Tony Abbott will do anything to spread fear about a price on carbon.TEN 20 July 2011
TONY Abbott has sought to put pressure on Julia Gillard's leadership by insisting that dissatisfaction among Labor MPs over her carbon tax could see her dumped as leader.
The Opposition Leader has also accused Greens leader Bob Brown of having "gone missing" on the proposed new tax after forcing Labor to accept "a rerun" of the Greens' election policy on climate change.
But the Prime Minister has launched her own attack, accusing Mr Abbott of misleading voters by falsely claiming in a radio interview on Tuesday that he had never supported carbon emissions trading.
Mr Abbott had supported emissions trading, she said, when it had been proposed by former Liberal leaders John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull.
The claims came as the two leaders continued to campaign over Ms Gillard's plan to put a $23-a-tonne tax on carbon emissions from July 1 next year.
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With Labor's support in opinion polls continuing to flag, despite the finalisation of the design of the tax, Mr Abbott said Labor had dumped former prime minister Kevin Rudd over his unpopular 40 per cent resource super-profit tax and that Ms Gillard could face the same fate over the carbon tax.
"I think there is a very real chance that there will be a revolt inside the Labor Party," Mr Abbott told Melbourne Talk Radio.
"I just don't assume that Labor is going to stick on this carbon tax because it's doing too much damage in their heartland."
Mr Abbott also said Senator Brown seemed to have stopped talking about the carbon tax, which he said the Greens had forced upon Labor.
"For months, he's been the Prime Minister's principal defender and he seems to have gone AWOL as it's become more and more obvious that this carbon tax is a dud and it's toxic with the public," he said.
In recent days, senior Labor sources have told The Australian Ms Gillard's leadership is safe, with caucus having agreed to "hold its nerve" in the hope the Prime Minister will be able to claw back support in coming months and then return to level pegging with the Coalition once the carbon tax is introduced and people realise it will not have a major impact on their lives.
Ms Gillard visited a wind farm outside Canberra yesterday to promote how the carbon tax would "turbo-charge" investment in renewable energy sources.
She also savaged Mr Abbott over his claim on Tuesday that he had never supported a carbon tax or an emissions trading system.
Additional reporting: Joe Kelly
Labor MPs will dump Julia Gillard over carbon, Tony Abbott says | The Australian
