Climate clash: Major parties feud over net zero as energy, economy dominate Canberra agenda
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The nation’s battle over net zero emissions policy erupted on national television, as leaders across the political divide staked out starkly different visions for Australia’s climate and energy future. Appearing on Sky News Australia, National Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie defended her party’s incremental approach, arguing it remains within international accords and warning against economic self-sabotage due to “aggressive” emissions cuts.
“We have taken the approach as the Nationals to lowering emissions over time, encouraging that, supporting that,” said McKenzie, “and that remains actually within the international framework… you’re not in breach of [the] Paris Agreement from having policies that lower emissions across your economy without trashing your economy”.
Pressed about divisions within the Coalition, McKenzie acknowledged difficult internal debates and the challenge for the Liberal Party to reach a consensus: “I’ve been around long enough to know that gratuitous advice from the National Party when the Liberal Party is going through quite difficult internal debates is never helpful. So we’ve got to give them the space to have that debate,” she added.
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Labor’s Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres, also interviewed live from Canberra, challenged assertions that economic ambition and emissions reduction are at odds. “There is absolute consistency here,” Ayres said. “We cannot return to the delinquent decade... There needs to be urgency. We need to get on with cheap, renewable power, the lowest cost form of power, transmission, storage, gas. These are all part of the story for Australia”.
Ayres dismissed the idea that net zero ambitions undercut economic opportunity: “The lowest cost by a country mile is renewables plus gas plus storage,” he said, and blasted opposition calls for a pivot back to coal as “a dumb idea, it’s expensive. It pushes electricity prices up… you can’t find a single person in the investment community who would have the remotest interest in doing it”.
The climate rift extends to electoral strategy. Former Labor minister Joel Fitzgibbon noted the Liberal Party’s ongoing struggle to land on a net zero position is endangering its ability to win back critical “teal” seats. “You can’t win back any teal seats if you don’t have a climate change policy,” Fitzgibbon stated. “This is a diabolical problem for the Liberal Party and again, I think I said it last time we spoke, I believe it’s going to get worse before it gets better”.
Speakers on all sides pointed to complex global dynamics and rising energy demands, including the emergence of artificial intelligence. “The world is talking about the enormous amount of power that is going to be needed to power AI. And from where we sit at the moment, we are falling dismally behind,” said interviewer Laura Jayes, grilling Ayres on domestic competitiveness.
McKenzie offered a skeptical view of global targets, noting, “the International Energy Agency’s net zero plan… still includes the use of 500 million tonnes of coal by 2050. So even with net zero, coal remains a big part of the story”. She added, “a whole suite of industrialised, prosperous countries [are] rethinking their commitment to a target that can’t be met”.
All agreed the outcome of the net zero debate will directly influence Australia’s economic landscape, the resilience of regional industry, and the ability of political parties to secure crucial electoral ground in upcoming contests.
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