Mr Rudd has recently said little about climate change, his Government instead embroiled in debate about its handling of asylum-seekers. It's been about seven months since the Prime Minister, elected on a platform of action on climate change, last delivered a major speech on the topic.

But in his address to the Lowy Institute for International Policy yesterday, Mr Rudd labelled climate change sceptics gamblers ready to bet on their grandchildren's futures and hold the world to ransom.

In a fierce attack on Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and others around him, Mr Rudd called said do-nothing climate change sceptics were alive and well in the Coalition.

Mr Rudd rejected the suggestion Australia should wait to pass climate change legislation until after the Copenhagen negotiations, as some in the Coalition have said.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times