Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says an "out-of-the-blue" letter from the conservative British PM, praising the federal government's carbon price push, shows the opposition is out of step.
British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard's carbon plan as "bold and ambitious".
The Conservative Party leader's endorsement of the Australian prime minister's plan to impose a carbon tax undercuts a campaign against the scheme by his conservative ally, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
In a letter obtained by Fairfax, Mr Cameron said Ms Gillard's policy "will add momentum to those, in both the developed and developing world, who are serious about dealing with this urgent threat".
"I was delighted to hear of the ambitious package of climate change policy measures you announced on 10 July and wanted to congratulate you on taking this bold step," he wrote.
Britain has a target to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2025 which is vastly more than the Australian target of five per cent by 2020.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the world was watching Australia's efforts to address climate change.
"(The letter) come out of the blue," Mr Combet said.
"It's a pretty interesting observation from a conservative leader."
He said the letter is a blow for Mr Abbott's anti-carbon price stance.
"The UK government certainly doesn't have any questions about the climate science like Tony Abbott has," he said.
"The UK government respects the advice of scientists and economists unlike Tony Abbott."
Meanwhile, Mr Abbott has asked Auditor-General Ian McPhee to investigate whether the government's $25 million campaign to sell the policy is deceptive and breaches political advertising rules, Fairfax reports.
Mr Combet dismissed the inquiry.
"This is just another piece of nonsense from Tony Abbott," he said.
"He's taken the most unprincipled opportunistic stance.
"He's been engaging in widespread deceit and will be found out."
Earlier in July, Ms Gillard defended spending $12 million of taxpayers' money on television advertising for the carbon tax, saying it's about providing facts.
The government plans to spend $12 million on the ads and another $13 million to print leaflets, run websites and fund other publicly available material.
Mr Combet played down criticism from big business over the government's new target to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
The Business Council of Australia last week said it was disappointing the government had locked in the target without assessing the economic impact.
But Mr Combet was not shying away from the plan.
"It represents Australia's fair share internationally," he said.
"It's comparable to the commitments of other developed economies."
He said there had been plenty of consultation with the business community.
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