Few political announcements in recent years have received across-the-board coverage to match the federal government’s carbon tax unveiled by Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday. Blanket coverage across TV, radio, online and, of course, print.

The front pages of the nation’s newspaper are as good a barometer as any to test the reaction of the nation’s citizens (or the nation’s editors at least) to the most significant economic reform we’ve seen in years.

From emotive keywords such as “gamble”, “crusade”, “sting” and “crunch”, to the playful Gold Coast Bulletin‘s description as the initiative as a “fun tax”, the fabric of Australia’s print media were woven with a similar message.

That is, unless you’re the Cairns Post, who chose to run a pictorial story of two sun-bathing crocodiles above the carbon tax announcement. Or the Northern Territory News, who went with a wayward barge instead…