Thousands 'Say Yes' at carbon price rallies

Thousands of people have gathered at locations around the nation to rally in support of the Federal Government's plan to put a price on carbon pollution.

An estimated 10,000 people turned out in Melbourne while police said up to 8,000 rallied in Sydney in support of the "Say Yes" campaign.

The rallies come as a new report on the risk of climate change to Australia's coasts found sea level rises could claim thousands of buildings by the end of the century.

Simultaneous rallies were being held in other capital cities as the second stage of the campaign, which was launched last week by actors Cate Blanchett and Michael Caton.

"What people are asking for is an ambitious [carbon price], an investment in renewable energy," said Simon Sheikh, rally organiser and national director of activist group GetUp!.

Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Don Henry said the big polluters and their supporters were running a scare campaign on the carbon tax, but the people-power campaign was gaining momentum.

"We've got to ramp up people power because in the next three months our Parliament is going to decide whether we take action or not," he told the Melbourne rally.

Mr Henry said the majority of Australians wanted action on climate change, as shown by the attendance at the rallies.

"We think momentum is building, people power is building, because Australians want action on climate change," he told reporters.

"[It's] the right time for all Australians, from all walks of life, to say, 'Hey, come on parliamentarians, no matter what your political colour, we pay your salary, we vote you in, we want action on climate change now, and that means a price on pollution'."

ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence said the rallies are designed to calm the heated debate surrounding the carbon tax.

"This is just the start and we really need to push back against this sort of attempt to create a Tea Party movement in Australia; we need to ensure there's a mature debate on these issues," he said.

Greens MP Adam Bandt described the rally as a show of strength from people who wanted real action on climate change.

"What this is is a genuine people-powered movement that is going to ride over the top of Tony Abbott's coal-fired fear campaign," he said after the Melbourne rally.

The Opposition Leader last week urged the mining industry to become "political activists" in a last-ditch effort to head off a carbon tax.

However, the Climate Institute says the rallies should not be taken as an endorsement of the Federal Government's plans.

CEO John Conner says Australians want action on climate change but the rallies are not an approval of the proposed carbon tax.

"Australians from all walks of life want action on pollution and climate change. They want polluters to start paying a price for their pollution, but they also want clean energy and energy efficiency policies," he said.

About 2,000 people rallied in Brisbane in support of the campaign, among them Treasurer Wayne Swan.

"Today is very important for all Australians who want to stand up for the environment and do something about putting a price on carbon pollution," he said.

"If we don't do that, our environment and our economy are threatened. We've got to deal with carbon pollution, we've got to reduce it, so we can protect our lifestyle and protect our economy."

Former Liberal party leader John Hewson addressed a crowd of thousands in Canberra.

"We need leadership to challenge the extreme views. We need leadership to challenge the scare campaign that's being mounted, being led in fact by one of my ex-staff members," he said, referring to Tony Abbott.

"But I am embarrassed as an Australian because this issue is bigger than all of them."

Crowds also gathered in Perth, Adelaide and Hobart.

The Government plans to finalise details of its carbon pricing scheme in early July, ahead of legislation being introduced to Parliament by September and a fixed carbon price starting on July 1, 2012.

-ABC/AAP