Australia's carbon tax has been the most talked about policy here for the past five years and will continue to dominate the political landscape right up until the 2013 general election.
The tax has more detractors than supporters, but those who back it describe it as a visionary step to addressing climate change, and that it will encourage more environmentally friendly options to blossom.
The critics say the tax will not make a difference in the global scheme of things, that it will raise the cost of living, ruin industry and send jobs off shore to places like New Zealand.
This issue has been so controversial, it's sparked some of the most bitter protests in recent years and claimed some high profile political scalps, none more so than Kevin Rudd.
Five years ago, during a speech to the National Climate Change Summit, the then Prime Minister Rudd made a bold statement that would come back to haunt him and Labor.
"Climate change is the great moral challenge of our generation" Rudd declared just before the Global Financial Crisis hit.
With no buy in from the US, China and India, the Copenhagen Summit was a fizzer and Rudd was forced to shelve his proposed emissions trading scheme. That opened the door for Julia Gillard's dramatic leadership coup.
But Gillard too made a statement that's continued to dog her during Australia's first female Prime Minister's time at the helm.
Just before the 2010 election she made this promise: "There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead".
But the election delivered a hung parliament, and Gillard desperately needed the support of the Greens and a few independents and she got it by doing an astonishing back flip on the carbon tax.
The new tax came into effect on the first of July and covers around 500 of Australia's biggest polluters like power generators and mining operators.
They'll pay about $30 per tonne of carbon they emit, although travel between Australia and New Zealand isn't affected. The domestic aviation fuel excise is rising but there will be no change for international flights.
And unlike New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme, Australia's agriculture and forestry are excluded from the tax.
For the half a million or so expat New Zealanders who live in Australia, and the thousands more who stream here every month, consumer prices are expected to rise by less than 1% as companies pass on the tax through increasing prices.
To make up for the rise in living costs, people are receiving direct Government compensation payments out of the carbon tax money bucket.
All tax payers on less than $100,000NZD a year will get a tax cut. The tax free threshold has been tripled to just over $22,000NZD.
Regular government payments to seniors, families and individuals have also increased.
So now that it's all said and done, there are two big questions that remain.
Will the payments be enough to compensate price rises?
And does Julia Gillard have enough time to prove to voters the tax is the right move for Australia's future before they head to the polls next year?
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