Liberal Party Denounces 'Nationals-lite' Tag Amid Coalition Tensions Over Abandoning Net Zero Commitment

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The Liberal Party will enter talks with the Nationals to formulate a joint climate and energy policy after the former formally dumped its net zero by 2050 target.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley announced the move on Thursday afternoon, in a decision that aligns the party with its junior Coalition partner, which abandoned the policy earlier this month.

The two parties will hold talks on Sunday to negotiate a joint Coalition climate policy, with three members from each party attending.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has nominated Senator Matt Canavan — a vocal opponent of net zero — as well as Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald to take part.

Littleproud expressed approval for the Liberal Party’s recent policy adjustment, noting that, at first glance, their coalition partner demonstrated significant maturity and leadership.

“In the coming days, we’ll sit down constructively with them to work through the pathway that they’ve articulated,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Ley is yet to say which Liberals will take part, but it’s expected that energy spokesperson Dan Tehan, who led a committee into the policy area, will attend.

Tehan denied the Liberals had become “Nationals-lite”, a phrase fellow Liberal MP Tim Wilson used ahead of Thursday’s meeting.

“No, we are the Liberal party, and there has been a thorough process we have undertaken to bring this policy together,” he said.

The path forward for the Coalition remains uncertain, particularly in urban areas where voters increasingly demand climate action and view achieving net-zero emissions as a critical goal.

The party has announced plans to leverage existing technology to reduce energy costs, increase gas supply, and reconsider the ban on nuclear energy, which does not emit carbon.

The Liberals’ decision to dump net zero on Thursday followed a three-hour meeting of the frontbench and came a day after a five-hour wider party room debate, during which each party member articulated their views.

Ley said the party still believed in “responsible emissions reduction” but providing cheaper energy was its priority.

“Our emissions reduction goals will never come at the expense of Australian families, and this is the principle that will guide every decision,” she said.

If elected, Ley said the party would scrap the net zero by 2050 target and a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.

The Liberals will not pull Australia out of the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, which requires signatories to progressively increase their emissions targets every five years, she added.

It signifies a break in bipartisan support for reaching net zero, which was adopted by former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison and legislated by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2022.

In a document outlining their plan, the Liberals said emissions would be reduced “year on year, for every five-year period of Australia’s Nationally Determined Contribution”.

This would be done “as fast and as far technology allows” without imposing “mandated costs” on families and industry.

The nationally determined contribution (NDC) is Australia’s official climate action plan under the Paris Agreement, outlining how the country will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to sources from SBS News, 17 members supported the net-zero emissions target, while the stance of four members remained ambiguous.

Tehan said Australia would do its “fair share” to reduce emissions, but that would be in line with “comparable countries”.

He cited carbon capture and storage technologies as ways to reduce emissions.

A senior Liberal source earlier revealed that 28 Liberal members opposed any reference to net zero in the party’s policy.

He remarked, “Australians should not have to bear the burden of ongoing conflicts within the Coalition regarding climate and energy policies.”

Albanese says Coalition taking ‘Australia backwards’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was critical of the Coalition infighting, stating industry needs certainty for long-term investment.

“The Coalition are choosing to take Australia backwards. They’re walking away from jobs for Australians, and investment certainty for business,” he told reporters on Thursday morning.

“They’re walking away from climate action because they fundamentally do not believe in the science of climate change.”

He said: “Australians cannot afford to keep paying the price of Coalition infighting when it comes to climate policy and energy policy.”

Climate Council and teals slam decision

The Climate Council said the decision to dump net zero was a “dangerous move” and a “disaster for climate”.

“It’s deadly negligence that would leave Australians facing more fires, floods and heatwaves, while hiking up power bills for Aussie families,” chief executive Amanda McKenzie said.

“After a decade of denial, distraction and delay, the Coalition still doesn’t get it: You can’t win elections by ignoring voters who want meaningful climate action.”

Teal independent MPs, including Allegra Spender, Zali Stegall and Sophie Scamps, who campaigned on climate action, were also swift to condemn the move.

“Today’s announcement shows the federal Liberals, just like the Nationals, are now even further removed from community expectations over climate action in Australia,” Steggall said.

“This decision makes the Coalition unelectable.”

Scamps said the Liberals no longer knew what they stood for, describing the party as “pusillanimous, duplicitous, and lacking vision”.