Coalition rift deepens as push to drop net zero pledge exposes party divisions

Sussan Ley has vowed she is a “firm coalitionist” amid speculation she will bow to Liberal right-wing pressure to drop their net zero pledge after the Nationals walked away from the target.

It comes after shadow energy spokesman Dan Tehan — who is leading the Coalition’s review — told a joint Liberal–National meeting on Tuesday his policy advice will be finalised “imminently.”

Mr Tehan’s advice is expected to go first to the Liberal leadership, then to the broader party room next week — with South Australian MP Tony Pasin suggesting the Liberals meet alone on the Sunday before the final sitting week to settle their stance.

The debate has marked a test for Ms Ley to present a credible climate policy six months since the election, with speculation a misstep could prompt a leadership rival such as Angus Taylor or Andrew Hastie to move against her before Christmas.

Several members of the Coalition denied questions about leadership fragility over the issue on Tuesday, played down talk of a split and spill.

Ms Ley’s top lieutenant Alex Hawke insisted her leadership wasn’t being questioned within the party and highlighting that her dire Newspoll wasn’t raised at party room.

“Inside the party room, it’s not being discussed,” the moderate Liberal frontbencher said on Tuesday.

Jane Hume and Andrew Wallace also claimed leadership tensions were exaggerated.

“There’s so much more agreement in our party room than there is division,” Senator Hume said.

Mr Wallace added: “Sussan has the support of the party room. The media are continuing to unfortunately beat this up. No one is speaking to me. No one is doing the numbers”.

“If she’s under pressure she’s not showing any signs of it.”

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie conceded leader Ms Ley had “one of the most difficult jobs” in Parliament and said the junior Coalition partner wanted her to be successful in rebuilding the Liberal Party.

Mr Wallace said good policy only came in “good time” and insisted the party had to come to a position in a methodical way.

“Rushed decisions do not make for good policy,” he told Sky.

Mr Bragg — one of the Liberal Party’s most staunch net zero supporters — said he was hopeful the issue could be resolved by Christmas.

He wanted against Australia being “pariah state” and moving against the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions by 2050.

“Virtually every country has committed to net zero emissions. We would be a pariah state. You’ve got to be in the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is the red line here,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

But while the moderates have warned abandoning it would alienate urban and younger voters, several conservative members have spoken of their desire to ditch net zero.

It includes conservatives Angus Taylor, Michaelia Cash and James Paterson at a closed-door leadership meeting on Sunday, while Andrew Hastie, Rick Wilson and Tony Pasin have aired their views more openly.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used question time to slam the fracturing Coalition over yet another civil war over climate policy after earlier promoting renewables agenda as the right path in caucus.

At the closed-door Labor meeting in Canberra, the PM labelled it “a commonsense approach” which gave “investment certainty” to deliver reliable energy.

He also noted that 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations in Australia had shut down under the former Coalition government.

The Nationals leader David Littleproud insisted both parties were “sovereign” and the junior Coalition partner’s early move on net zero wasn’t designed to pressure the Liberals.

He said the Nationals instead opted for a slower OECD-level cuts to reduce emissions in “a cheaper, better, fairer way for Australians”.

Barnaby Joyce loudly took credit for shifting the debate away from net zero during a press conference on Tuesday, while insisting he wasn’t trying to undermine Ms Ley’s leadership nor cause an ugly internal net zero fight.

“(I’ve) just moved the whole agenda to exactly where I want it to be,” he told reporters.

“I think I’m going quite well. It’s almost like I’ve done it before.”

Mr Joyce also claimed peak corporate group the Business Council of Australia “is wrong” after it called on the Coalition to maintain its commitment.

Mr Hawke credited The Nationals for some “good work” within their policy direction, but said ultimately the Liberals will act independently on the various options put before them.

“Like the Nationals, we’ve prepared our own policy options. We have several of those ready.”

“They’ve done some pretty good work in relation to elements of emissions reduction that we’ll consider as well when formulating our policy. We’ll have our own process.”

Mr Bragg added that the Liberals and Nationals should stay together but “not at any cost”.

“We’ve been married for a long time. There have been times where there have been marriage counselling sessions and I think before the next session, we certainly need to have our own position,” he said.

Mr Wilson told Sky News there was a pathway for the Coalition to be united on energy policy, but it must “lead on the conversation” and not be “defined by the terms of our opponents”.

“We will make our own decisions about our own policy, and we will stand up for what we believe in for conversations around energy and climate change,” the Shadow cabinet minister said.

Nationals MP Michael McCormack poked fun at the Coalition’s chaos in his Melbourne Cup-style race call before Question Time on Tuesday.

Similar to last year, he gave a 90-second play-by-play of national politics — choosing this year to tear into Mr Joyce’s rumoured move to One Nation and aspiring MPs lurking in the back of Ms Ley’s leadership.

“Word is New England may soon be changing stables. Farrer surrounding herself with stablemates. Farrer trying hard, so too Fairfax. Leadership aspirants looming thick and fast,” was among his call.

Mr Joyce again skipped the joint-party room and said he would remain outside despite the Nationals axing the climate commitments.

As rumours remain, he could switch to One Nation, Mr Joyce also denied he had any scheduled meetings with Pauline Hanson this week and said he’d keep his cards “close to his chest” on his political future.

It comes after Senator Hanson was reportedly spotted at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Halloween party recently.