The Liberal party will abandon a firm net zero emissions target, siding with the Nationals to end the Coalition’s commitment to the climate goal.
The shadow ministry agreed a future Coalition government would not withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which was a red-line for moderate Liberals such as Andrew Bragg and Maria Kovacic.
In an olive branch to moderates who wanted the target retained, MPs will also be free to argue that reaching net zero would be a “welcome outcome” in the future, two sources confirmed to Guardian Australia.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is expected to formally announce the decision on Thursday afternoon after the Liberal shadow ministry met to finally resolve a position following months of bitter infighting.
The frontbench meeting followed an almost five-hour gathering of the Liberal party-room on Wednesday, in which a majority of MPs voiced support for ditching the Scott Morrison-era net zero by 2050 target.
That was despite the party’s federal director, Andrew Hirst, telling MPs that voters equated net zero with action on climate change.
The outcome will appease conservatives and temporarily stave off the threat of a leadership challenge from either Angus Taylor or Andrew Hastie, who wanted the 2050 target dumped.
Three Liberals and three Nationals will be now tasked with thrashing out a joint Coalition position, which will be put to the joint party room on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of Ley’s announcement, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the Coalition was walking away from a net zero emissions target because it “fundamentally” doesn’t believe in the science of climate change.
“Have no doubt the Coalition approach would hurt Australians. It would lead to less investment, less reliability, less jobs, less economic growth. It would also damage our relationships in the region, including relationships on security,” Albanese said.
Albanese said the sight of Taylor and Hastie walking side-by-side into Wednesday’s party-room meeting showed the Liberals were a “divided rabble” and a “clown show”.
Earlier on Thursday, the Liberal senator and net zero supporter, Andrew McLachlan, warned it would be “very difficult” to win back city electorates if it dumped the climate target.
Asked to respond to the view of some colleagues that abandoning the target could be vote winner, McLachlan said: “You’re wrong”.
“If you’re going to argue that we’re going to abandon net zero, you’re going to be very alone in the community and also the business community. I think all levels of community have moved on,” he told ABC’s RN Breakfast.
More details to come
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
