Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce will reportedly hand PM Scott Morrison a list of his party’s demands over net zero climate policy by the end of the week, which apparently includes the option of a new coal-fired power station, The Australian Financial Review reported.
Clive Palmer, whose United Australia Party plans to contest every seat at the next election with a special focus on Nationals’ seats in Queensland, told The Australian Financial Review he would be advertising against net zero.
Palmer said he supported climate change action but not making commitments that bind governments for 30 years.
“You can’t bind governments 30 years in the future, that’s a bad principle,” he said.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is also doubling down against zero emissions commitments, coining the term “Nat Zero”.
Related article: Queensland backs Net Zero by 2050 target
“The handful of Nationals opposed to a net zero deal are increasingly isolated, with next to no support from the regional Liberals whose views range from openly supporting net zero to accepting it as inevitable,” The Australian Financial Review reported.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said it was preferable to have all regional members on board.
”Obviously, it’s very, very important that we bring along our regional members of Parliament,” he said.
“It’s broader than the Nats. Regional members of Parliament live in the areas where the impacts of bad policies will be the worst, and the impacts of good policies will have the biggest positive impact.”
The government reportedly plans to achieve net zero by 2050 using a technology road map that will initially concentrate on firmed renewable energy as well as five developing frontline technologies that include hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, carbon capture and storage, green steel and aluminium, and soil carbon.
