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The motion to “abandon support for a net zero mandate” was passed at the party’s Federal Council meeting in Canberra on Saturday. Its passing does not bind the party’s federal MPs to do the same, however the outcome is expected to be similar when the group meets on Sunday morning. Saturday’s motion does not vanquish all support for emissions reductions, with the party voting to support a “flexible policy framework that caters for emissions reductions, while growing and protecting key industries”. Ahead of the vote, Nationals leader David Littleproud told members the resolution was “eminently sensible”. “Today you’ll debate a resolution, an eminently sensible resolution, around making sure we have a commonsense solution to our energy, to our climate. We believe in maintaining and protecting our climate and our environment. There are practical ways,” he said. “We’re not walking away from reducing emissions, but we can do it a better, fairer, cheaper way. We can align ourselves with the world as the world pivots from an arbitrary target to using common sense, making sure that they don’t destroy their economies. “We can do that, calm and considered, and we work with our coalition partners. “And I’ve made it clear with Sussan Ley that while we respect the sovereignty of their room, we’ve asked her to respect the sovereignty of our room. And we’ve come together in a considered way to work together. And that is the endeavour that we will start tomorrow morning at 9am.” Net Zero has been a growing sore point within the broader Coalition, as well as within the two parties. Since becoming opposition leader, Ms Ley has refused to take a concrete stance on whether Australia should strive to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Instead, she has committed to a blanket policy review, arguing it is needed after the Coalition’s decimation at the federal election in May. While some moderates within the Liberal Party are reportedly happy to keep a watered-down version of the policy, many high profile MPs, including now-backbencher Andrew Hastie, have taken a public stance in firm opposition. Barnaby Joyce flagged the Nationals’ support of Net Zero as a major reason behind his decision to take a break from the party room. “Our position in continuing to support net zero with the massive schism and hurt to my electorate, to small businesses, to the environment, to the poor, to the defence of Australia and creating hate between lifelong friends in my community makes continuing in the Nationals’ Party Room in Canberra under this policy untenable,” he said last month. More to come
