Sussan Ley, David Littleproud caught in coalition rift over net-zero and nuclear deal

A senior Liberal frontbencher has urged the party not to abandon its net-zero target as divides over climate and nuclear energy policies threaten the coalition’s election rebuild.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals counterpart David Littleproud continue to hammer out a power-sharing agreement, with the number of ministers assigned to each party central to negotiations.

But outspoken blocs within each party are urging their leaders to ditch the coalition’s support of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, while some Nationals want a commitment from the Liberals to keep their nuclear power policy before signing a new agreement.

Liberal senator Jane Hume said policies were a matter for each party room, but her personal opinion was to keep net-zero.

“The electorate has sent us a very clear message about what it is that they want in their government,” she told Sky News on Monday.

“Abandoning net zero, I don’t necessarily think is consistent with that.”

Mr Littleproud also said each party’s commitment to net zero was a matter for their respective party rooms, “but our policy has been to support it”.

He indicated that keeping net zero would be contingent on some sort of nuclear policy, although what form that would take is unclear.

“... you can’t get to net zero without nuclear energy,” he told Channel Seven’s Sunrise program.

“Whether it’s the policy that we took around government-owned (reactors) or whether it’s simply removing the moratorium, ... you have to be pragmatic.”

Mr Littleproud said coalition agreement negotiations had been taking longer than normal because Ms Ley had been taking care of her mother, Angela Braybrooks, who died on Saturday morning.

Ms Ley penned an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper on Monday, pledging to focus the Liberal Party on its core values as she leads a root-and-branch rebuild.

The party needed a comprehensive review at the scale of the Valder Report conducted after the Fraser government was booted out in 1983, she said.

While policies were up for review, the party’s values were not negotiable.

She singled out lower taxes, better education, freedom of choice and bolstering Australia’s military alliances as core tenets to home in on.

Labor assistant minister Andrew Leigh urged Ms Ley and the coalition to make clear there was bipartisan support for renewable energy and assure investors the climate wars were dead and buried.

“Because that allows us to confidently attract that investment that allows us to get cheaper and cleaner energy,” he told ABC Radio Canberra.