A senior Liberal has warned of a mass exodus from the frontbench if the party pursues a policy of net zero by 2050 at “any costs”.
A day after net zero-opponent Andrew Hastie said he would quit the shadow ministry if the party re-adopted the climate target, colleague Jonno Duniam suggested others could follow suit if caveats weren’t attached to the commitment.
“If we just said net zero at any cost by 2050 I think you’d find there would be a mass exodus,” the shadow education minister told Sky News.
“The reality is that most members of our frontbench and most of the members of our party room are interested in making sure that whatever we do, if it is to retain … net zero by 2050, doesn’t come at whatever the cost might be, unlimited cost.
Duniam said he was confident his colleagues, including the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, understood that net zero “at any cost” was “bad policy”.
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The warnings of a potential net zero rebellion threaten to create further headaches for Ley less than a week after she sacked Jacinta Nampijinpa Price for refusing to support her leadership or apologise for her comments about Indian migrants.
Ley pledged to review the Liberals’ commitment to net zero by 2050 after winning the leadership, setting up a messy internal fight between supporters and detractors of the target.
Asked on Monday what it would mean if Ley re-committed the Liberals to the target, Hastie said it would leave him “without a job”.
The comments are particularly significant, given the West Australian MP has put on record his aspiration to one day lead the party.
“I’ve nailed my colours to the mast … Like if I go out with the tide in two-and-a-half years, that’s great, you know, I’ll get a lot more time with my kids back,” Hastie told ABC Perth.
“My primary mission in politics is to build a stronger, more secure, more competitive Australia. Energy security is a vital input to that.”
The shadow home affairs minister’s comments drew praise from the Nationals senator and anti-net zero campaigner, Matt Canavan, as well as Price.
The latest flare-up in the Liberals’ ongoing internal fight over net zero comes as the Albanese government prepares to unveil its 2035 emissions reduction target after receiving the Climate Change Authority’s advice on Friday.
The government has been widely expected to announce a target range – rather than a single number – after the authority’s preliminary advice put a span of 65% to 75% on the table.
Appearing on Tuesday at a parliamentary inquiry into the new national climate risk assessment, Treasury officials revealed the government had asked it to model the economic implications of one specific target, rather than a range.
Senior Treasury official Alex Heath would not reveal the number but indicated the work had been under way for months – possibly since before the federal election in May.
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Heath said Treasury examined a specific number due to the “difficulty” in modelling a range.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said the decision to ask Treasury to examine a specific number indicated Labor had “pre-determined” its 2035 target well in advance of receiving the Climate Change Authority advice.
Government sources confirmed Treasury had modelled the economic impact of a specific figure within the 65% to 75% range to inform – not pre-empt – cabinet deliberations.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, are expected to announce the 2035 target on either Thursday or Friday after cabinet meets to sign off on the new climate goal.
The parliamentary inquiry also heard that Australian Climate Service officials did not personally brief Albanese on the findings of the climate risk assessmentbefore its release on Monday.
The first-of-its-kind report warned no Australian would be immune to the climate crisis as global heating threatens to cause a major increases in heat-related deaths and put millions at risk from rising sea levels.
The head of the climate service, Vicki Manson, said her team briefed the prime minister’s office and the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C) – but not the prime minister himself.
Waters said the fact Albanese had not been briefed on the report by its authors was “absolutely appalling and needs to be rectified”.