In a veiled swipe at Joyce,twice a former leader of the Nationals and still a focus of leadership speculation in the party,Littleproud emphasised his achievement in helping secure Liberal backing for nuclear energy.
“I am proud to be the first Nationals leader to have secured nuclear as part of the Coalition’s energy policy platform,” he said.
But senior Liberals fear any major concessions to the Coalition partner could be too costly at a time when they are trying to recalibrate their economic policies ahead of the next federal election.
The Coalition’s federal leaders,Peter Dutton and David Littleproud.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“If the Nats want to spend $30 billion on top of Labor’s commitments and have us in a weaker fiscal position than the government heading into an election,they’ll have to explain how that works for the Coalition politically,” one Liberal,who asked to speak anonymously to order to discuss internal party discussions,said.
The opposition’s looming policies on building nuclear power plants have altered the economic trade-off for Coalition MPs worried about the price of lowering emissions. If the nation were to embrace a nuclear future,which energy and economics experts have cast doubt on,the Coalition would likely keep coal and gas online for longer.
Joyce,former minister Keith Pitt,senator Matt Canavan and others have asked Littleproud in party room meetings to confirm if the net zero deal struck with the Liberals in 2022 still remains in place.
“On net-zero a deal was done and it has to be honoured – without it,all bets should be off,” Pitt said.
In September last year,Joyce’s local branch tried and failed to abolish the party’s policy of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Joyce then put the motion at the Nationals’ federal conference where it was also defeated.
While the Liberals and Nationals continue to argue about the Coalition’s position on net zero,the Albanese government is required to upgrade its climate commitment under the Paris Agreement on climate change adopted by 196 countries.
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The government committed Australia to cut emissions 43 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.
Under the terms of the Paris deal,countries must increase their emissions reduction ambitions every five years and the new target for 2035 is due this year.
The opposition has not confirmed what its 2035 target would be,but a failure to set a more ambitious goal than Australia’s 2035 goal would breach the term of the Paris deal.