Chris Bowen says Peter Dutton ‘must come clean’ after Coalition MPs snubbed a 2035 emissions reduction target

Chris Bowen demands Peter Dutton ‘stop the nonsense’ as Coalition MPs warn against taking a 2035 emissions target to the next election.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has demanded clarity over the Coalition’s climate policy. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has demanded Peter Dutton “stop the nonsense” and explain if the Coalition will have a 2035 emissions reduction target, after Liberal and National MPs warned the opposition shouldn’t take one to the next election.

The Australian revealed on Wednesday that most Liberal MPs spoken to this week were privately against a 2035 target, with just one member saying the party should be ambitious and adopt one.

Nationals MPs went on the record to either outright reject a 2035 target or express serious reservations.

Nationals leader David Littleproud told Sky News: “I think it’ll be difficult for us to put, in all honesty, a target on 2035. And that’s demonstrated by the fact that we want to shift the energy debate about removing the ban on nuclear energy.”

Mr Bowen said if the Coalition didn’t have a 2035 target and won the election, they could either leave the Paris accord or accept the target Labor will set.

“Would a Dutton government be committed to net zero by 2050 or not? Would they have a 2035 target or not? It’s time to come clean,” Mr Bowen said.

“Either they are planning a 2035 target but not planning on letting the Australian people know what it is before the next election – so they intend to be fundamentally dishonest with the Australian people.

Liberal and Nationals MPs, such as Bridget McKenzie and Barnaby Joyce, have cautioned against adopting a 2035 emissions reduction target. Picture: Kym Smith

“Or they plan not to have a 2035 target, which would mean them leaving the Paris accord. A Liberal and National Party government under Peter Dutton’s leadership leaving the Paris accord, joining Iran, Yemen and Libya as the only countries outside the Paris accord.

“It’s up to Peter Dutton now to explain which it is. It’s 2024 now, it’s time for him to stop the nonsense, to get on with announcing some policies, tell us what his climate change and energy policy is?”

Returning from leave after his Christmas break, Mr Bowen revealed he’d written to the Climate Change Authority requesting its advice on the government’s 2035 target.

He said the target would be “very clear to the Australian people before the election”.

“(The CCA’s advice) will be one of the key inputs to the cabinet. I’ll make a recommendation to the cabinet about what our 2035 target will be, should be. And then we’ll announce that in due course,” Mr Bowen said.

“Our 2035 will be ambitious and achievable. It’s got to be both of those things. There’s no point setting a target which the country can’t meet, nor is there any point in setting a target which isn’t a step up in activity.”

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the Coalition would have “credible and effective, and most importantly affordable” policies to take to voters at the next election when asked if climate targets should be ditched.

She said the Coalition maintained support for net zero by 2050 but would not commit to a 2035 target.

“I’m not going to jump ahead of my team led in energy by Ted O’Brien, who’s made some excellent points on this particularly around the critical components of energy policy,” she told Sky News.

“We must have security, we must have affordability and we must have sustainability. Labor has made a complete mess of this. We’ve got 80 per cent of baseload power exiting the grid in the next 10 years. We’ve got emissions that are actually starting to go up. So what does that tell you about sustainability? And affordability? I’m sure you’ve opened your power bill recently and thought ‘my goodness, what a jump’, and I hear that from households and businesses all over this country.”

COALITION MPS SAY 2035 TARGET WILL AFFECT COST OF LIVING

Nationals and Liberal MPs are warning Peter Dutton against taking a 2035 emissions reduction target to the next federal election, saying it would worsen the cost-of-living crisis for regional and vulnerable Australians.

While Anthony Albanese is under pressure to adopt a 2035 target of more than 70 per cent, just one Liberal MP The Australian spoke to this week said the party should be ambitious and unveil one before the election, due between August and May next year.

Most Liberal MPs were privately opposed to a 2035 target or questioned the need to put a number to the Australian people.

Nationals MPs Barnaby Joyce, Colin Boyce, Keith Pitt, Matt Canavan and Bridget McKenzie went on the record to either reject any target or express serious reservations about adopting one.

There is also a smaller rump within the Nationals, including Senator Canavan and Mr Boyce, who want the Coalition to drop the current policy of net zero emissions by 2050.

“I’m not supportive of a 2035 target,” Mr Boyce said.

“If we look into the recent past, the cost of energy has increased exponentially and it was all driven by these renewable energy and carbon emissions targets, whether they be 2030, 2035 or 2050. We haven’t discussed any of this in any party room so I imagine it’ll be all open for debate.”

Senator McKenzie, who pushed hard for the Nationals to agree to net zero emissions by 2050 and is a shadow minister, said: “I’m not confident the Labor Party’s current targets, let alone anything more ambitious, can be achieved without significant social and economic detriment to the nine million of us that don’t live in capital cities.

“Their slavish rejection of all technologies being put on the table makes their current position unjustifiable.”

Mr Pitt said working people couldn’t afford Labor’s climate and energy policies and a 2035 target would make life more difficult for Australians.

“The people who are paying are the ones who can least afford it. They’re our people,” he said.

The government is required under the Paris Agreement to finalise a 2035 target by February 2025, but opposition MPs said it would be politically foolish for the Coalition to match or adopt a lower figure.

“A bold declaration that our target is less than their target creates a potentially different debate from one that is about our policies to lower energy costs,” a senior Coalition MP said.

Another MP agreed that it was better to continue putting pressure on Labor over its energy “mess” rather than make the Coalition the issue.

There was a consensus the Coalition would need to respond to Labor’s target, be it through its own target or a different policy approach.

With Peter Dutton set to make nuclear a key plank of the Coalition’s energy platform, MPs conceded a civil nuclear industry wouldn’t be viable until after 2035 but the energy source could help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The Australian asked the Opposition Leader if he was supportive of taking a 2035 target to the election but he declined to respond.

A senior Coalition source said there would be a “credible and effective” emissions reduction policy.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has vowed to announce the government’s 2035 target “in due course” and said unlike the former Coalition government, Australia would be seen arguing for progress.

The Climate Change Authority late last year warned the government was not yet on track to meet its 2030 target of 43 per cent below 2005 levels.

Mr Bowen said the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme, which was not included in the CCA’s projections, would help lower emissions by 42 per cent by 2030.

Senator Canavan said of emissions reduction targets: “We should dump it all. We should pull out of Paris: China, India and Indonesia did not even sign the COP28 agreement. Why are we in this at all when the world’s major emitters are not doing anything?”

Mr Joyce, a former Nationals leader and current frontbencher, said conditions needed to be attached to any 2035 target.

“Power must be affordable, no. 1, reliable no. 2’,” he said.