Scott Morrison has added national security considerations to the list of why Australia must adopt a binding target of net zero emissions by 2050, as optimism grew inside the Coalition about a deal between the Liberals and the Nationals within the next week.

The Prime Minister also revealed that under the government’s proposed technology road map to achieve net zero using fledgling or undeveloped technologies, the trajectory towards net zero would not be linear, meaning the bulk of emissions would have to be reduced in the latter years.