Tanya Plibersek slams ‘extremist’ Nationals over net zero backflip, warns of impact on farmers

Former environment minister Tanya Plibersek has labelled the Nationals “extremists” for abandoning net zero, saying they are dragging the Liberal Party with them despite what business, farmer and industry bodies want.

Ms Plibersek said the National Party effectively wanted to deny drought-proof regular income to farmers.

The party decided last weekend Australia shouldn’t pursue a target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – cutting emissions as far as possible and offsetting those that can’t be eliminated – and should slow its rate of emissions cuts by about half to be in line with the OECD average.

The Liberals are yet to land a position on climate policy but are widely expected to also drop the commitment to net zero by 2050, although possibly still train the target for some time in the second half of the century, and focus on power prices.

“The people who don’t back net zero are the extremists of the National Party and they’re dragging half the Liberal Party with them,” Ms Plibersek told Sky News on Thursday.

“For the first time in history, the National Party are saying that farmers shouldn’t be allowed to choose what to do on their own land. They’re saying that it’s okay for their neighbours to bully them, that it’s understandable when kids get teased at school if they turn up and their parents have a wind turbine on their land.

“I mean, this is madness.”

Liberal frontbencher James Paterson, who is part of the Opposition’s leadership team, said it was clear his party needed to be united over energy policy.

“It’s such a critical issue facing our country, and it’s hard to prosecute that argument unless we’re united behind it,” he said.

“And that’s what I’m working on with my colleagues right now.”