AARON PATRICK: Opposition Leader Sussan Ley united the Coalition, her next job will be even tougher
On her fifteenth day as Liberal Party Leader, Sussan Ley re-established the Coalition. Her next job is harder: unite an opposition no longer pretending it agrees on global warming, a defining question, rightly or wrongly, of modern political identity.
On Wednesday morning, Liberal-Nationals senator Matt Canavan tweeted: “If we drop net zero, everything will be better.”
Two days earlier, on Monday the ABC, Liberal leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie said: “I think the question of net zero, that’s a straitjacket that I’m already getting out of.”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Nationals Leader David Littleproud told Sky News: “We’ll continue to review some of those policies, including net zero.”
Four years ago, the then Morrison Coalition Government committed to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The promise was designed to staunch the loss of inner-city seats to the “teal” independents movement. Even though the gambit failed, city-based Liberals believe even talking about repudiating the policy makes the Coalition look like climate change sceptics.
That would make a come-back in the cities even harder. There are other practical problems. Striking a trade deal with Europe would probably be impossible with the net-zero target, a problem the Labor government would be sure to emphasise.
Liberal MPs hope the Nationals’ leaders are doing what country politicians have learnt to do over generations: use policy brinkmanship to extract concessions from their Liberal counterparts, rather than preparing a guerrilla campaign to dump the pledge.
Having lost only one seat at the election, the Nationals feel emboldened. As pragmatists who receive about 5 per cent of Australians’ votes, they also know they can never hold power alone.
Ms Ley’s shadow ministry, which is expected to be announced Wednesday afternoon, is the next step in the negotiation.
The Coalition energy spokesman will have to craft a compromise on climate, renewables and nuclear power that allows city MPs to argue they will protect the environment and country representatives to support coal, Australia’s second-largest export.
With the jobs allocated, they can argue in private, and begin the long journey back.
