Australia on Thursday dismissed threats from mining tycoon Clive Palmer to mount a High Court challenge to the nation's new pollution tax, saying he had "more money than sense".

Palmer, Australia's fifth-richest person, said he had received legal advice over the government's Aus$23-a-tonne carbon emissions levy, which is due to take effect on July 1.

"We think it's unconstitutional. You can't really tax carbon," he told ABC television. "The grounds (for the challenge) are set out in legal advice and they'll be coming in the High Court."

But Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the government set policy that was in the national interest and served everyone, not just a "privileged few".

Palmer has launched recent legal battles against several parties including the Hyatt hotel chain and Australian football's governing body FFA, declaring he had a 68-0 case win rate.

Treasurer Wayne Swan, with whom Palmer has been locked in a bitter war of words, accused the litigious coal baron of being motivated by self-interest.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet accused Palmer of having "more money than sense" and said the case was not a serious proposition, with the carbon tax on "very firm ground" constitutionally.

"Frankly, Clive Palmer would be better spending the wealth he's generated out of the minerals boom on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of his operations than spending it on high-priced lawyers," Combet said.

Palmer said the tax, which will give way to an emissions trading scheme in 2015, was a "joke because the air moves right around the world", and he had a democratic right to mount a challenge.

"Even if you're a billionaire, you're still Australian and still a citizen," he said.

Palmer and fellow resources magnates Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart -- the richest woman in the Asia-Pacific -- have been singled out for criticism by Swan in an essay about the rising power of Australia's super-rich.

Rinehart has recently invested in newspapers and television and Palmer said this week he is mulling similar moves, prompting Swan to complain about "vested interests" trying to influence public policy for their own good.

The trio were vocal in a mining industry campaign, which saw a so-called "super profits tax" on coal and mining firms watered down and contributed to the ousting of former prime minister Kevin Rudd.