Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, has warned that a price on carbon through a carbon tax or an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will jack up power prices for businesses.
Hunt said that unlike Labor, the Turnbull Government is tackling climate change without pushing up electricity prices.
He was responding to the launch of Labor's climate change policy last week which includes the introduction of an ETS.
“We’ve all been through Labor’s carbon tax experiment before. We all know what it involves,” Hunt said.
“We have a policy that’s working. Through our Emissions Reduction Fund 92.8 million tonnes of emissions reduction has been contracted at less than 1 per cent of the cost of Labor’s carbon tax.
“The latest national figures show that we are on track to beat our 2020 target by 78 million tonnes.”
In addition to an ETS, Labor's policy includes delivering 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Climate spokesman, Mark Butler, said the plan is underpinned by a pollution reduction target of net zero pollution by 2050.
"Labor will put a cap on pollution and create new opportunities for Australian firms to trade and engage with other ETS jurisdictions – already 40 per cent of the world’s economy,” Butler said.
"By 2030, there will be $2.5 trillion of investment in renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific alone."