In a speech yesterday, Professor Garnaut said a binding international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases would never be reached at such open forums as the United Nations conference in Copenhagen last month.

''The important decisions will need to be made wisely by a group of major countries, drawing on detailed numerical work by experts representing heads of government,'' he said.

Just because Copenhagen was a fiasco did not mean climate change had disappeared as a problem, he said. And if Australia acted, it would be easier for countries such as the United States to move.

Professor Garnaut said Australia could lead the way by establishing a regional emissions trading scheme with like-minded neighbours.

He suggested a double dissolution election be held, then a scheme passed in which the price of carbon, rather than being floated according to market forces, was fixed indefinitely at about $20 a tonne, as the Greens suggested last week.

In effect this arrangement would act as a carbon tax. It would still reduce emissions and stay in place until a satisfactory international agreement emerged.

Parliament resumes next Tuesday and the Government will reintroduce legislation for the ETS complete with the industry-friendly amendments that Malcolm Turnbull and Ian Macfarlane negotiated last year.

The failure of the Copenhagen talks and the trenchant resistance of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, to any market-based mechanism have made the ETS a vexed issue for the Government.

Before Parliament resumes, Mr Abbott will release a policy that will claim to be able to reduce emissions by planting trees, better soil management and energy-efficiency measures.

The former Opposition leader, Mr Turnbull, has pledged to cross the floor to support the amended ETS.

In his Australia Day message in his seat of Wentworth yesterday, he took a swipe at Mr Abbott, saying climate change was ''an issue that cries out for strong, far-sighted leadership both at home and internationally''.

Mr Turnbull also teased that he may try again for the leadership. ''Part of our special Australian identity, too, is a spirit of enterprise and resilience, a willingness to get in and have a go, and if that doesn't work out, dust yourself off and have another go.''