Ten years ago, when I joined the Liberal Party, my state MP was the premier of NSW, and my federal MP was the prime minister. The Liberal Party was governing the state and the nation. As someone who has spent most of my adult life working, volunteering and believing in the Liberal Party, I can’t stay silent as we teeter on the edge of a decision that will define our political future.
During those times, our record on climate was one of practical leadership. John Howard introduced Australia’s first renewable energy target, heritage-listed the Great Barrier Reef, and went to the 2007 election promising a carbon-trading scheme. Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, as Liberal prime ministers, helped shape international engagement on emissions reduction. Liberal governments in NSW and South Australia drove early investment in renewables and laid out clear paths for a decisive shift to clean energy.
The anti-net zero bloc: Senator Jessica Collins, opposition minister for defence Angus Taylor, Senator Sarah Henderson, Member for Canning Andrew Hastie and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price with other Liberal MPs and senators arrive for their party room showdown on Wednesday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
We were part of the global solution, not a barrier to it.
Today, that legacy feels distant. Our days of governing must not become nostalgic anecdotes told to our children and grandchildren. We have to fight for relevance again, and the fight begins with the position we take on net zero on Thursday.
The debate over our 2050 net zero commitment has become a defining test of whether the Liberal Party still listens to the Australian people. The rhetoric we hear from the noisy corners that climate action is a problem for the elite or that regional Australia is against the clean-energy transition does not reflect the polling.
Polling tells a very different story. SEC Newgate’s State of the Nation polling over the past five years has consistently found that support for our net zero target is about twice as strong as opposition to it. In the last poll, 58 per cent of Australians said they supported our net zero target, with 22 per cent opposed. Fifty-six per cent hold positive views about the transition to renewable energy and only 22 per cent feel negatively.
Research by 89 Degrees East shows similar numbers. Across seven regional renewable energy zones (REZs), the very areas that will host Australia’s clean-energy build, 62 per cent of residents support the clean-energy shift. Only 17 per cent oppose it.
Those who want to walk away from our net zero commitment say, “They won’t want action when their power prices soar!” Power prices are up 30 per cent – driven largely by global gas prices – and yet people living in the cities and regions still support renewable energy. Australians want a party that will stand by its commitment and not walk away when the going gets tough.
In National-held seats, the very constituencies often invoked as the reason for walking away, most voters want us to stay the course.
Leadership requires courage. In 2020, then-premier Gladys Berejiklian stood her ground against National Party threats over koala protection. The Liberal Party needs that same courage now. Because if we walk away from our commitments, we won’t just lose an argument, we’ll lose a generation of voters.
There is hope. Yesterday, NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman and the shadow minister for energy, climate change and environment, James Griffin, came out with a firm, continued commitment to net zero. This is the right thing to do today and for future generations.
Just two years ago, it was the Coalition that pushed the Labor government to legislate a 70 per cent emissions-reduction target by 2035. The Coalition’s energy infrastructure road map remains policy with bipartisan support in NSW.
In Queensland, the Liberal National Party is putting its own stamp on energy policy, but sticking to the fundamentals: a commitment to net zero by 2050 and to replacing coal-fired power with wind, solar, gas, batteries and pumped hydro.
There is an opportunity for the party to align with international trends, not fight against them. Globally, investment in clean energy and clean technologies is now almost double that of fossil fuel infrastructure. We need to attract our share of that investment and put it to good use – not put up the “closed for business” sign.
The decision before the federal Liberals on Thursday is not just about climate policy; it’s about identity. Are we still the party of economic and environmental stewardship? Do we keep our promises? Do we believe in doing our bit? Or are we content to become a nostalgic relic of what once was?
The Liberal Party once led Australia into prosperity. I know it can do so again, but only if we stick to our promises, and choose to lead, not shrink.
Adelaide Cuneo is vice-president of the NSW Liberal Women’s Council and a former state and federal Coalition staffer.
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