490 DAYS UNTIL LABOR'S LIE TAX

“Does the lie matter?” asks Joanne Nova. “Only if you think Democracy does.” In other carbon news, the Age’s Kenneth Davidson won’t let go of his favourite theme:

Australia, as the highest per capita emitter in the world …

After more than three decades, this is Kenneth Davidson's last weekly column. He will now appear on the last Monday of each month.

The rural independent MP Tony Windsor has threatened to torpedo plans to put a price on carbon unless the Greens stop making ''unilateral'' statements about the details of the proposed scheme, including an insistence that petrol prices rise. Incensed that the Greens senator Christine Milne said transport, including petrol, should be covered by the scheme, Mr Windsor said he would not accept increased transport fuel costs for country people … ''The Greens want to be very careful about where they are going on this or they won't see anything in the Senate,'' he told the Herald yesterday.

Mr Windsor's threat came amid separate signs of tension between the Greens and the government. The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said Senator Milne's comments on petrol were ''not appropriate'' given discussions were yet to occur, while the Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, took issue with Senator Milne's claim that the Greens had ''ownership'' of the proposed scheme Ms Gillard outlined last week.

Julia Gillard is refusing to say whether petrol will be in or out of her proposed carbon tax.