Nationals duo Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack have knives out … for net zero
Michael McCormack has joined Barnaby Joyce’s campaign to repeal net zero, as the two former deputy prime ministers deliver a scathing assessment of David Littleproud.
Michael McCormack will vote for Barnaby Joyce’s private member’s bill to repeal net zero and is refusing to rule out a future tilt at the Nationals leadership, as the two former deputy prime ministers deliver a scathing assessment of David Littleproud’s handling of the aftermath of the May election defeat.
Mr Joyce said he canvassed support for Mr McCormack to contest the Nationals leadership after the May election and would vote for his former rival if the Riverina MP ran in the future, in comments that will heap pressure on Mr Littleproud in the first sitting week of the 48th parliament.
With Mr McCormack being a previous advocate for net zero by 2050 within the Nationals, he has decided to join Mr Joyce’s campaign against the policy, starting with backing a bill to repeal Australia’s commitment to carbon neutrality.
Declaring net zero was overwhelmingly opposed by Nationals members and had proved damaging for regional communities, Mr McCormack’s post-election backflip will create an immediate headache for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she tries to navigate a delicate internal debate on climate change policy.
The MPs were scathing over Mr Littleproud temporarily splitting the Coalition after the election, arguing it could have decimated the Nationals and was disrespectful of Ms Ley at a time when her mother was dying.
Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack were bitter political enemies during the former Coalition government, replacing each other as deputy prime minister in an internal stoush that split the Nationals.
The pair said they broke bread and became friends in the last term of parliament.
In an interview with The Australian they also revealed that Mr Joyce undermined Mr McCormack when he was deputy prime minister because the New England MP wanted his old job back.
Mr Joyce also claimed former Liberal leader Peter Dutton asked him to retire ahead of the May election and “lost his mind” in an expletive-ridden phone call because the Nationals MP refused to say nuclear power would bring down the price of electricity.
And both MPs revealed their disappointment at finding out via the media that they had been dumped from the shadow ministry, claiming the description of “generational change” to justify the decision was an attempt to convince them to quit parliament.
Mr McCormack also slammed the decision from Coalition strategists to ban Mr Joyce from campaigning outside of his electorate of New England, arguing there was too much control by party headquarters over messaging.
While both MPs stressed there was no move to oust Mr Littleproud from the leadership, Mr McCormack left the door open to running for the position if there was an opening.
“When a journo says ‘will you ever rule yourself out of ever (becoming leader)’, of course you are not going to agree to that,” he told The Australian.
“You’re not going to rule yourself out in the future.”
When asked what he thought of Mr Littleproud’s leadership, Mr McCormack again rehashed the infamous line used by Scott Morrison a day before he replaced Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister.
“He’s the leader and I’m ambitious for him,” he said.
Mr Joyce said he would “happily back Michael for leader” but he was not agitating for a leadership change, despite admitting his relationship with Mr Littleproud had “broken down”. “Was I making calls on Michael’s behalf? Yes, I was,” Mr Joyce said. “If someone said ‘would you back Michael for leader? Yeah, I would. But am I going to move to create a change? No, I’m not.”
When Mr Joyce was asked why he believed his former rival now had the capacity to lead when he relentlessly undermined him as deputy prime minister, Mr McCormack interjected to say “because he (previously) wanted the job himself”.
“You can’t make this stuff up sometimes,” Mr McCormack said. “But the fact is, I think we both share a common goal to see the National Party succeed.
“We want to see it be the best it can be, and not for our sakes, but for the sake of the people who send us here to do a job.”
Mr Joyce said he undermined Mr McCormack because he had hopes of returning to the role of deputy prime minister, which he resigned from in 2018 after it was revealed he had an affair with his former staffer and now wife Vikki Campion.
“Everybody’s ambitious mate,” he said. “It’s like playing football. How many people say ‘I really want to play second grade’.
“Everyone wants to be the best. They believe they’ve got the best to offer the nation and they want to do it. But what you have got to have – and I hope we have got it – is maturity. When it’s over say, ‘well that’s (the end)’.
“Let’s rid ourselves of this idea that people don’t have aspirations. The question you should always ask in politics is: who would be the second-best prime minister? Because you know who the best is going to be: the person that you are talking to.”
Mr McCormack responded: “I don’t carry grudges.”
With Ms Ley setting up an internal working group to debate climate and energy policy, Mr McCormack said regional communities were being shattered by the renewables rollout.
He said “largely international” renewables companies were sending community liaison officers into regional areas and “dividing families” by trying to attract local support for large-scale wind and solar projects.
“They are creating acrimony among people who have been friends for not just years, but for generations. They divide and conquer,” he said.
Mr McCormack said he backed net zero in 2021 because farmers were concerned Australia would be hit with trade penalties if the Morrison government did not adopt the target.
He said the growing global shift against net zero and the changing trade environment had eliminated that risk.
“I thought if we don’t sign up, we’re going to be left behind,” he said. “So I did it for the right reasons at the right time, but the world has changed.”
Mr Joyce said he calls the representatives of renewables projects “bad people” when he sees them in his electorate, arguing large-scale wind and solar were affecting agricultural land and the liveability of regions.
“I lose my shit. I disgrace myself in front of them,” he said.
Taking aim at Mr Littleproud, Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack said they were informed by a journalist that they were relegated to the backbench in the post-election reshuffle.
Mr Littleproud described the move as “generational change” for the Nationals, which is how it was described to them by a journalist days earlier.
“The statement of generational change that David made, that was unfortunate,” Mr Joyce said. “You can’t come back from that. That’s pretty terminal.
“That’s not a demotion, that it is: ‘get out of here (parliament)’. Without a shadow of a doubt.”
Mr Joyce said he could not understand why Mr Littleproud treated Mr McCormack so shabbily.
“Michael’s a nice guy. He doesn’t rock the boat, he’s always been very professional and decent,” he said.
“I could understand why he booted me but I couldn’t understand why he booted Michael.”
Mr McCormack said he would contest his seat next election while Mr Joyce is undecided.
Mr McCormack said the week-long Coalition split – which Mr Littleproud instigated with the majority support of the Nationals party room – was “madness”.
“I thought the timing was terrible,” he said.
“Sussan’s mother was in the last stages of her life and Sussan should have had that week to be with her mum and then to mourn her.
“And I don’t think she was given those precious hours that you can’t get back.”
Mr McCormack and Mr Joyce went to the funeral of Ms Ley’s mother, Angela Braybrooks, but it was not attended by Mr Littleproud.
Mr McCormack said it was naive to believe the Nationals could have immediately won back frontbench positions if the split lasted any longer than a week.
“It wouldn’t happen in the corporate world, it’s hardly going to happen here,” he said.
Mr Joyce said a protracted split would have seen the Nationals suffer as cashed-up Liberals would have run in all their seats at the next election.
“It’s like charging into battle and you’ve got no bullets,” he said.
Reflecting on the stifling discipline imposed by Mr Dutton’s team ahead of the last election, Mr Joyce said he was asked by Mr Dutton to resign from the frontbench and leave politics.
“To be quite frank, he asked me to resign. Not only to resign but to get out of politics,” he said.
He said Mr Dutton “lost his mind” over an ABC interview on nuclear power during the campaign.
“He was saying f..k you and f..k this,” he said.
“And it was because I did an interview with Patricia Karvelas and I hadn’t said nuclear would bring down the price of power, because it won’t.
“It just won’t go up as much.”
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