Cate Blanchett has found herself in the midst of a climate change row after appearing in a TV commercial calling on Australians to back a tax on carbon.

The advert, paid for by environmental groups, says it is time to tax big polluters and finishes with the Oscar-winning actor urging her fellow citizens to "finally" do something about climate change.

The conservative opposition leader, Tony Abbott, lambasted the advert. "People who are worth $53m have a right to be heard – but their voice should not be heard ahead of the ordinary working people of this country," he said.

Blanchett lives in a multimillion- dollar Sydney mansion which, according to local media, has been decked out with the latest solar technology. As artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company she has also sought to make the theatre greener, installing solar panels that provide up to 70% of its power.

Abbott also directed his criticism at the prime minister, Julia Gillard. "This is a prime minister who is happy to listen to actors but she won't listen to voters," he said, adding that Gillard should not give weight to celebrities who lived half the year in Hollywood where there was no carbon tax. Instead he demanded she hold an election on the issue.

In the runup to last year's election Gillard had promised there would be no carbon tax under a government she led. But the reality of a hung parliament meant she had to adopt a carbon tax as policy and her minority government has slumped in the polls ever since.

The prime minister backed the advert and Blanchett's right to appear in it. She told Abbott: "Conservatives like David Cameron have had the foresight to say to their people climate change is real. I believe that; David Cameron believes that. The opposition leader does not."

Abbott once famously described human-induced climate change as "crap" – his party is split between climate change sceptics and believers.

The Gillard government plans to introduce a fixed price on carbon for a three-to-five-year period starting in July 2012, followed by an emissions trading scheme.