While the Nationals were expected to land a position before the Liberals because it had a smaller base to consult, the move has still angered some Liberals, who say privately the party has front-run the issue as they did with the Voice to Parliament referendum in an attempt to lead the Coalition towards dumping net zero.<\/p>\n
One Nationals MP told the ABC that now that their party had come to a position, the Liberal Party needed to do the same.<\/p>\n
“[They should] stop revolving around the mulberry tree,” the MP said.<\/p>\n
But senior Nationals are not expected to press the issue in the party room, and a final position is not expected this week.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Nationals leader David Littleproud said he would not pressure the Liberals to conclude their own position.<\/p>\n
“What we’ve got to do is allow the Liberal Party the time to be able to work through their position … I’m sure they’ll be very interested to see where we’ve got to as an alternative approach, and [I am] happy to work with them once they get to their position,” he told Sky News.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nationals leader David Littleproud. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson)<\/p>\n
A Liberal MP said the party still needed time to consider the new emissions policy pitched up by the Nationals through their party’s review, led by Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell.<\/p>\n
The workability of some of that review’s ideas has been questioned \u2014 including whether tying Australia’s climate ambitions to the OECD average could unintentionally force a more ambitious trajectory if the OECD over performs in the future.<\/p>\n
The Nationals’ review concluded Australia had reduced emissions at about double the rate of the rest of the OECD since 2015, when the Paris Agreement to limit global warming was made.<\/p>\n
But Australia’s emissions fell only 1.5 per cent in the most recent annual data, only slightly faster than the 1 per cent OECD rate cited by the Nationals.<\/p>\n
Liberal MP Alex Hawke told ABC Radio Sydney the Liberals and Nationals were in agreement that the federal government’s approach to the climate transition was unsustainable.<\/p>\n
“Every Liberal agrees and every National agrees that the cost of net zero at the moment is unacceptably high on Australians. Most industries are closing because they can’t get the cheap power they need. They’re citing doubling of the energy costs,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We agree on these things. We’re going to come together around the things we do agree on.”<\/p>\n
Pressure to close door on net zero question<\/p>\n
The Liberals have already brought forward their timeline on an internal energy policy review, conscious that the policy vacuum was causing tension within the party.<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is under intense pressure to land a position that can keep the party together without losing ground in city seats at the next election.<\/p>\n
Liberal sources told the ABC yesterday that the party was creeping towards dumping net zero<\/a> \u2014 but moderate MPs have openly stated that the target must be kept in some form.<\/p>\n