The Opposition led by Brendan Nelson called for the vote on the government's ETS be delayed until after the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Abbott proposed the creation of an 'emissions reduction fund' to provide 'direct' incentives to industry and farmers to reduce carbon emissions.

[10] Following her election as party leader, in various policy announcements in the lead up to the 2010 election, Prime Minister Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan gave assurances that no carbon tax would be introduced by a Gillard led government, but that a "citizens' assembly" would be called to sound out public support for a price on carbon.

[13] On 24 February 2011, in a joint press conference of the "Climate Change Committee" – comprising the Government, Greens, and two independent MPs – Gillard announced a plan to legislate for the introduction of a fixed price to be imposed on "carbon pollution" from 1 July 2012.

[14] The carbon price would be placed for three to five years before a full emissions trading scheme is implemented, under a blueprint agreed by a multi-party parliamentary committee.

In a flexible charge year, carbon units will be issued under the Act as the result of an auction plus by means of free allocation to coal fired generators and emissions-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) industries.

Furthermore, free carbon units will be issued under the Jobs and Competitiveness Program (which deals with emissions-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) activities).

[22] In February 2012, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Clean Energy Future carbon price had not deterred new investment in the coal industry, as spending on exploration had increased by 62 percent in 2010–2011, more than any other mineral commodity.