Labor has adopted a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 while the Morrison government continues to consider its position.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is again attempting to end the decade-long climate wars.
But the debate's temperature shows no signs of cooling, with the coalition labelling the opposition's target "extremist".
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he continued to consider Australia's 2050 plan for climate action, in line with a commitment he made to Pacific island leaders last year.
Mr Albanese used a speech in Melbourne on Friday to outline Labor's much-anticipated climate policy.
The coalition zeroed-in on Labor's emissions reductions and renewable energy targets during last year's election campaign, forcing the opposition into policy retreat after being defeated.
Mr Albanese said a 2050 net-zero target should be as non-controversial in Australia as it is in most nations.
"The climate wars have seen a decade wasted when it should have been a decade won," he said.
"We should be a clean energy superpower - harnessing the wind and sun to spark a new manufacturing boom and power generations of jobs."
He points out 73 countries and all of Australia's states and territories are already working towards the goal.
Labor's medium-term plan to reach its target is expected to be outlined closer to the next election, due by mid-2022.
The government was quick to seize on the lack of a roadmap to accompany Friday's policy goal.
"Anthony Albanese doesn't have a plan to meet a 2050 target. He can't tell you what it costs," Mr Morrison told reporters in the Northern Territory.
"He can't tell you what industries will be affected. He can't tell you how many jobs will go. He can't tell you how much your electricity prices will go up. He can't tell you whether he's even going to put a tax on it."
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann decried it as "extremist and irresponsible".
But opposition climate spokesman Mark Butler pointed to research from Melbourne University and the CSIRO showing the benefits to the entire economy far outweighed likely costs to government.
"The idea that we can talk about the cost of taking action without talking about the cost of not taking action is part of the problem about the debate over climate policy in this country," he told ABC radio.
A Climate Council report from May estimated not acting would wipe $611 billion from the property market by 2050 and $211 billion from the economy through the loss of agricultural and labour productivity.
Labor says the 2050 goal is in line with scientific advice about what's necessary to prevent global warming of 2C, and keep it closer to 1.5C.
However, many environmental campaigners, while applauding the move, said the nation needed to move further or faster.
"A decade of climate wars means we have lost precious time," the Climate Council's Will Steffen said.
The Australia Institute described the target as the least that was needed, while industry advocates the Ai Group said the goal was widely supported by businesses.
Meanwhile, financial services watchdog APRA announced it would add climate change risks to its stress tests of banks starting in 2020.
Australian Associated Press
