Around 100 people braved icy conditions in central Melbourne this afternoon to protest against the carbon tax on the steps of state Parliament.
Controversial broadcaster Alan Jones was joined by federal Liberal Victorian MPs, including Sophie Mirabella and Bruce Billson, to denounce the scheme.
Mr Jones said some businesses would collapse as they found themelves unable to remain competitive after passing the tax on.
He said Prime Minister Julia Gillard had shattered the public's faith in politics by backflipping on her pre-election pledge not to introduce the tax.
"What this one person has done ... is to diminish the image of parliament and politics in the eyes of the public," he said.
"The notion of global warming is a hoax, this is witchcraft.
"There are stacks and stacks of eminent scientists all over the world who've argued it's witchcraft.
"I have interviewed every one of them on my program and not one syllable they have uttered has been produced on any other media outlet anywhere in Australia.
"There is a conspiracy in this country to deny the other side."
Thee rally was organised by the Consumers and Taxpayers Association, which has consistently campaigned against the carbon tax.A far bigger crowd turned out today in central Sydney, where an estimated 1000 anti-carbon tax protesters gathered at Belmore Park after marching from Hyde Park.
Protesters waved inflatable plastic bats and carried placards saying "why tax the air we exhale", while chanting "Axe the tax".
Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop addressed the crowd, saying the coalition would abolish the tax immediately.
"The next election, whenever it will be held, will be a referendum on the carbon tax," she said.
"Those people who say we can't abolish it are wrong - we can abolish it."
Ms Bishop said the carbon tax would cause large increases in electricity prices and job loses.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce addressed protesters through a phone hook-up from Queensland.
"We just can't accept this," he said.
"The Australian people are disgusted with this government, they're disgusted with this tax. What we need is your support, with your support we can take the nation back."
Earlier today, Ms Gillard said the time had come for Australians to judge the carbon tax for themselves - and realise "the sky hasn't fallen in".
"As Australians go about their ordinary Sunday, our nation is seizing a new future," she said in Melbourne.
Receiving a rock star's welcome from dozens of wide-eyed children and their parents at an Ivanhoe kindergarten, Ms Gillard said the arrival of carbon pricing meant the Australians could now see its effects for themselves instead of listening to "reckless and false" claims from the opposition.
"Is the Sunday roast now costing $100? Has the coal industry closed down? Is my weekly shop now 20 per cent more expensive? Has Australia entered a permanent depression? They'll be able to judge that," she said.
Ms Gillard said she looked forward to moving beyond the relentless carbon tax argument and focusing on initiatives such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
"In the months ahead I think as the dust settles from this debate, Australians will be able to see that we've done the right thing to tackle climate change and seize a clean energy future," she said.
She said Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's plans to repeal the carbon tax if elected would see him strip tax cuts from millions of families, and would be revealed as "fiddle and fudge".
Ms Gillard told ABC television she rejected opposition claims that it would repeal the tax if elected to government.
"Businesses have got themselves ready for carbon pricing," she said.
"New investments have been made.
"Against all of that backdrop, Mr Abbott will find himself in a position where he cannot go to the next election pretending anything else than carbon pricing is going to stay."
Also in Melbourne today, Mr Abbott kicked off a "truth campaign" against the carbon tax, stepping up his promise to kill the tax if he wins office.
Mr Abbott said carbon pricing was a "bad tax based on a lie" as he unveiled a mobile billboard in Blackburn that was emblazoned with the coalition's promise to repeal the tax.
He dismissed Ms Gillard's assertions that the carbon tax debate was akin to the introduction of the GST and would be too difficult to scrap.
Unlike the carbon tax, the GST was an "orthodox economic reform", he said.
"John Howard went to the election and sought a mandate for the GST, so his political conduct was entirely honourable, unlike the conduct of this prime minister over this tax," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Abbott said a coalition government would introduce legislation to repeal the tax on it's first day in office.
"That is my pledge to the people of Australia. If you elect a coalition government there will be no carbon tax and I can be believed when I say there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead."
Mr Abbott also visited one of the "forgotten families of Australia" to discuss how the carbon tax would affect their bottom line.
Over a cup of tea, Mr Abbott thumbed through utility bills as Mario and Matoula Romeo talked about the increasing cost of living pressures on their family of five.
"Everything on this table is going to be more expensive with the carbon tax - the boiled water, the food," Mr Abbott said.
- with AAP
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/national/campaigns-rise-as-carbon-tax-comes-into-play-20120701-21ai5.html
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