Infighting over net zero has put more pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s leadership. Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS

The coalition’s position on net zero emissions must be in the national interest, a Liberal frontbencher says, as MPs poise to thrash out a stance on the issue that’s been dividing the opposition.

Create a free account to read this article

or signup to continue reading

The Liberals’ formal position on the climate target will be finalised following midweek meetings in Canberra, with the party to negotiate a single policy with the Nationals in the days to follow.

Infighting over the issue has intensified, placing further pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s leadership since the Nationals announced their position ahead of their coalition colleagues.

Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said a consensus position within the coalition on emission targets would be challenging but still achievable.

Energy spokesman Dan Tehan has overseen the Liberal Party’s energy policy review. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

“I’ve never said this would be easy, I’ve always said it’s going to be like threading a needle, but I want to do it in a respectful way, in a way where I can take my colleagues into confidence and try and work through this,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“What I’m seeking to do this week, is to make sure that we’ve got a policy offering when it comes to energy and emissions reduction, which is in the national interest.”

Conservatives within the Liberal Party have urged for Ms Ley to drop support for net zero, while moderates have called for the policy to be kept for a better chance of winning back seats in city areas.

Liberal senator Maria Kovacic said the coalition could still remain in tact despite having different stances on net zero but said the policy needed to be worked through together.

“The challenge for us is that if we get these policies wrong, if we get the way we articulate this to Australians wrong, then our ability to regain this trust will be further damaged,” she told ABC Radio.

“The heavy lifting (on policy) that our leader, Sussan Ley, is doing at the moment, this should have been done after the 2022 election when we got our first clear message.

“We didn’t listen to it and here we are today doing probably what we should have been doing three years ago.”

Liberal frontbencher and moderate Andrew Bragg on Sunday flagged he would be open to quitting the shadow cabinet if his party decided it would pull out of international climate change treaty the Paris Agreement.

Andrew Bragg could quit the shadow cabinet if the Liberal Party pulls out of the Paris Agreement. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

He reaffirmed his support for lowering emissions, saying there could not be a “fatwa” on words - referring to net zero.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said while he respected positions of other coalition members threatening to step aside from the front bench, unity was needed.

“Political history has shown that no individual is greater or bigger than the political party that’s put them there,” he told Sky News.

“If they have convicted views that they want to follow through on, well, good on them, and I think that’s a healthy thing that if people come to parliament with those convictions and are prepared to stand by them.”

Under the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, members are required to increase their emissions targets every five years and cannot water down their goals.

Amid speculation another Liberal might follow suit, moderates are attempting to hammer out a deal that stays within the Paris Agreement and keeps some form of commitment to net zero, even if the initial 2050 deadline is dropped.

Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan, a self-described conservationist, said the review process had to run its course, and his party would soon have a position to negotiate with the National Party.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison committed the coalition to the net-zero emissions target in 2021.

Australian Associated Press