Isra-Mart S.R.L.: Gillard won't apologise for new path on carbon

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she did not mean to mislead Australian voters when she pledged not to introduce a carbon tax during last year's election campaign.

But, speaking to AM on the first anniversary of the coup which unseated Kevin Rudd, Ms Gillard refused to apologise, saying the path to an emissions trading scheme had taken an unexpected turn.

Asked by interviewer Sabra Lane "Why not just say sorry?", the PM replied: "When I said those words during the election campaign I did not mean to mislead anybody."

"I understand that people heard those words and they look at what's happening now and they perhaps look at me and say, 'What's going on, what did she mean then, what does she mean now'?

"I've explained to the Australian people that I never meant to mislead anybody during the last election campaign about carbon pricing."

The Government wanted to go straight to a market-based cap and trade system, but it had to compromise when the Greens won a vital Lower House seat and took the balance of power in the Senate.

The Greens insisted on an initial carbon tax for at least three years before a transition to the full emissions trading scheme.

Ms Gillard has always been reluctant to acknowledge the part the minor party played in negotiations.

And this morning she skirted around the subject again.

"We're going to get there through a path I didn't expect during the election campaign of a fixed price period for around three to five years. So yes, the route to the objective is different," she said.

Saying she would not comment on recent disastrous opinion polls that show her standing as Prime Minister, and that of the Government, is lower than when she wrested the leadership from Mr Rudd, Ms Gillard blamed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for stirring up community disquiet.

"The Opposition each and every day invites Australians to believe they're no longer up to big reforms," she said.

"I understand [the carbon price is] causing anxiety but to become the country we want to be in the future, with the environment we want and the strong economy we want, we've got to get on with the job and price carbon."

And she said she was determined to push on with the reform no matter what the cost.

"Anybody who thinks that I'm going to fold because it's a bit tough out there has got me wrong, absolutely wrong."

Ms Gillard says opinion in the community will change when people realise how they will be compensated for the higher costs a carbon tax will impose.

"People will be able to sit at their kitchen table and work out how much assistance they're going to get and when they've worked that through they'll see a dollar figure of assistance provided by me and a dollar figure of assistance that Tony Abbott is committed to taking away."

She says it will take "months and months and months" to explain to people the details of the climate change agreement when, and if, agreement is reached in the multi-party climate change committee.

"I judge myself and the progress of the Government I lead by the difference we are making in the lives of Australians today and for the future. That does require for us to engage in and explain the big reforms in a context where the Opposition each and every day invites Australians to believe they're no longer up to big reforms."

Mr Rudd has not been giving interviews today.