‘Cowards’: Pauline Hanson’s push to flush out Coalition over Net Zero

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will move an urgency motion calling for an end to net zero, declaring that any Coalition Senator who abstains from the vote should be labelled a “coward”.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will move an urgency motion in the Senate Monday calling for the government to end its net zero policies, declaring that any Coalition Senator who abstains from the vote should be labelled a “coward”.

The motion, which is expected to be voted on Monday afternoon, will put further pressure on the Coalition which saw Nationals MPs Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack mount their own anti-net zero push last week.

“While some National Party members have come to the realisation that net zero has been a bad idea that has hurt productivity, cost of living, and the agriculture sector, we’ve been saying this all along,” Ms Hanson said.

“Barnaby Joyce to his credit seems to have turned the leaf and recognised that these issues are having an impact and he’s attempting to reverse the damage he and his Coalition did in government.”

Pauline Hanson's One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, is pushing to force Coalition senators to vote on her net zero motion, labelling those who abstain ‘cowards’. Picture: Supplied

Ms Hanson said she believed “every trick in the book” would be used to prevent Mr Joyce’s private member’s bill from coming to a vote, but said that urgency provisions would allow her motion in the Senate to be raised.

The proposed One Nation motion addresses “the need for the Government to scrap its net zero emissions targets and instead prioritise providing Australian families, farmers, businesses and industry with cheap and reliable energy to protect jobs, ensure energy security, lower the cost of living and restore Australia’s economic competitiveness.”

Barnaby Joyce MP holds a door-stop press conference in the press gallery at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Although the motion is expected to be defeated Ms Hanson said it was a matter of forcing the Coalition onto the record.

“We know where Labor and the Greens stand but I want to hear where those in the Coalition stand on this.”

“It’s an urgency motion and anyone who abstains from this is a coward,” Ms Hanson said.

The Coalition is currently undertaking a review of its policies on net zero, though the move by Mr Joyce to introduce a private members bill increased the profile of the debate while putting pressure on Nationals leader David Littleproud.

Regional Australia, where Nationals support is strongest, has long borne the brunt of net zero policies, with The Daily Telegraph revealing communities around Yass, NSW, deeply divided over proposals to stud the landscape with dozens of wind towers as tall as the Crown Tower in Sydney to meet climate commitments.

Originally published as ‘Cowards’: Pauline Hanson’s push to flush out Coalition over Net Zero