THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, says Tony Abbott will owe the nation an apology after the carbon price comes in and people realise just how ''silly'' the Opposition's scaremongering has been.
Ms Gillard told the Herald yesterday that Mr Abbott's scare campaign resembled those mounted against reforms of decades past and, similarly, would amount to nothing.
''If we just go over recent history, the Liberal Party was telling us the economy would end if we got rid of Work Choices.
''People now know that was just a stupid fear campaign.
''People would probably remember the days when the Liberal Party was telling us that superannuation would destroy the economy, now everybody accepts compulsory superannuation is a good thing.
''People remember back to the days when the Liberal Party was telling us Medibank and Medicare would destroy healthcare in this country and now of course that's all bipartisan politics because it was the right thing to do.''
Ms Gillard said the cycle was repeating itself.
''The day after carbon pricing starts in this country, people will realise just how silly those claims were and I hope at that point that there's a bit of an apology from Tony Abbott and his friends for going around and trying to scare people.''
Ms Gillard's attack came as the government began a concerted campaign of highlighting as shrill Mr Abbott's claims about the effect of a carbon price on the economy. The Opposition Leader, who has been demanding Ms Gillard call an election to receive a mandate for a carbon tax, told Parliament yesterday the carbon tax would ''kill manufacturing''.
In his lunchtime address to the annual Minerals Council of Australia gathering, Mr Abbott said the policy would destroy jobs and exports, and spell the end for coal, oil and gas.
He told the mining companies that no matter how much they negotiated, they could not improve the tax and their only hope was to help abolish it by backing the Coalition.
''I say to you that at this time you need to become political activists at least for a few months, at least for a couple of years, if you are going to be able to continue to be the miners that you want to be and that Australia needs,'' he said.
Ms Gillard used her speech to the miners' dinner last night to spruik both the carbon price and the mining tax.
She said the mining tax legislation would be introduced later in the year, which is a shift from the original plans to introduce it in July.
At the same function last year, relations were so poisonous that the then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, boycotted the event, leaving his then deputy Ms Gillard to make the speech.
Ms Gillard's tone last night was conciliatory. ''I sincerely appreciate the way the industry is approaching our discussions.
''I can honestly say, every day I've been Prime Minister, I've seen respect and good faith on both sides of these issues.''
Mr Rudd backed Ms Gillard yesterday.
Mr Rudd, who once declared the start of the GST to be ''fundamental injustice day'', said the sun would still rise and the ''world will not stop the day after the price on carbon is introduced'' on July 1, 2012.
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