‘Selfish’: NSW Coalition rift widens as Nationals prepare net-zero bombshell
NSW Liberals face a critical choice between splitting with the Nationals or abandoning their net-zero target as state Coalition tensions erupt over climate policy.
Liberals in NSW are facing the prospect of overturning their long-held energy policy just over a year out from an election, amid fury at state Nationals’ plans to dump support for net zero.
NSW Liberals fear they will have to rejig their support for the 2050 target, or even split the Coalition, after The Australian revealed the NSW Nationals are set to abandon the policy at a partyroom meeting next week.
The development has been met with anger from sections of the NSW Liberals, who say the Nationals’ move could place marginal, metropolitan Liberal seats further at risk at the 2027 state election.
One Liberal MP said the Nationals’ stance was “selfish”, given their electorates had received funding to help establish Renewable Energy Zones – state government-driven sites where batches of renewable energy developments have been grouped.
“Have we learnt nothing from the federal election? (The net zero debate is) only going to affect our metro seats,” one Liberal MP said.
“It’s also selfish on the (Nats’) part because they took the funding on the (REZ) … it’s all take and no give.”
Multiple Liberals confirmed they faced either having to wind back their support for the 2050 target or more intensely attack the rollout of renewable energy projects, depending on what the Nationals vote on next week.
Several confirmed a split with the Nationals could be a possibility over the policy. “It becomes very disruptive … it becomes very painful,” another Liberal MP said.
Any policy change at state level, where the Coalition has supported net zero by 2050 since 2016, will also be impacted by what path Sussan Ley and the federal party take on the policy.
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman on Thursday dug in over NSW’s target, saying hitting net zero emissions by 2050 is “the longstanding NSW Coalition position … which I support. However, the Minns Labor government has botched the rollout, failing to get projects online and failing to keep local communities included and on-board.”
Other Liberal MPs said while they were sympathetic to the Nationals whose communities were being impacted by an influx of transmission lines, solar panels and wind farms, the negative impacts of ditching net zero would be most keenly felt in the cities.
“We can be the adults on this debate – or tear ourselves apart like the feds and consign ourselves to opposition for another two terms,” one said.
Another said Labor’s rollout of the Coalition’s renewable energy plans “has been woeful … (but) abandoning our own policy platform is only going to leave Labor free to continue on their path of destruction without legitimate criticism”.
The leaking of the national net zero debate into NSW comes amid pressure on Mr Speakman over poor polling and a perceived lack of cut through with the public, which is likely to come to a head in the final sitting fortnight of the year, starting next week.
Multiple Liberal MPs have expressed hope Mr Speakman will “fall on his sword” and step down as leader, in a move that would clear the way for regularly mentioned alternative Kellie Sloane – although the first-term MP maintains she has no desire for the job.
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