EcoNews

Australia's Labor-led minority government has passed the second hurdle with its hotly debated carbon price legislation, having just secured an affirmative vote in the upper house, Senate.

Labor and the Australian Greens Party, which holds the balance of power in the Senate, joined forces at around midday to ensure the 18 separate bills passed through the Senate.

The legislation must now go back to the lower House of Representatives for final approval, which will see it enacted into law later this month.

The legislation provides for a carbon price of $23 a tonne to begin from July 1 next year, moving to a market driven Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2015.

The pollution price will be applied to about 500 companies that have been identified as the country's largest polluters.

Labor stalwart John Faulkner says there's now an overwhelming case for "sensible precautionary action" to limit the impact of climate change.

"The climate is warming and it will continue to do so as a result of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity," Senator Faulkner said earlier.

"The science is beyond dispute.

"Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response."

While Labor and the Greens celebrate the bills' passage today, the conservative Liberal-National coalition continued to argue the government should call an election before putting a price on pollution.

Opposition Whip Helen Kroger attacked Senator Faulkner for speaking passionately about the need for a carbon tax when, before the 2010 election, Labor shelved plans for an ETS.

Instead, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard planned to hold a citizen's assembly to build consensus for future action but this was changed when she was forced to strike a deal with the Greens Party to ensure power for her minority government.