Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the opposition is pushing for an election this year because it knows its campaign against the carbon tax will be exposed as a sham next year.

"There is a reason they are begging for an election in 2011," Ms Gillard told the Victorian Labor Party conference today.

"And it is not because they think they can win in 2013. It is because they know that in 2012 this mindlessly negative campaign will be exposed before every Australian."

Labor's carbon pricing scheme is expected to begin in July 2012.

Ms Gillard said conservative governments, such as those of David Cameron in the United Kingdom and John Key in New Zealand, were acting responsibly on the issue of climate change.