Zempilas cites Dutton failure in opposing Hastie, Cash on net zero and flags

West Australian Liberal leader Basil Zempilas noted Peter Dutton’s emphatic defeat in explaining why the WA parliamentary party would not be adopting the positions.

WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas in June. Picture: NewsWire / Philip Gostelow

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West Australian Liberal leader Basil Zempilas has distanced himself from his party’s two most senior WA representatives and its membership base, declaring his parliamentary party supports the status quo on net zero, welcome to country ceremonies and the Indigenous flags.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, less than 48 hours after the WA Liberals’ state council voted in favour of non-binding motions to scrap the net zero emissions target and ditch welcome to country ceremonies and Indigenous flags from official events, Mr Zempilas said he saw no need for change on any of those issues.

Mr Zempilas noted the party’s emphatic defeat under Peter Dutton at the May federal election in explaining why the state parliamentary party would not be adopting the motions to emerge from state council.

“Those motions were motions of the membership of the WA Liberal Party and it is right in a membership-based organisation, that is the forum for motions and discussions like that to be held,” he said.

“But the WA Parliamentary Liberal Party supports the status quo. We are very comfortable with standing in front of the Aboriginal flag, we are very comfortable with the welcome to country and we support the status quo on the net zero targets.”

The net zero resolution was put forward by the party’s Canning division and supported by federal Canning MP and opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie, who has long been critical of the policy.

Michaelia Cash, leader of the Liberals in the Senate, had endorsed resolutions from the party’s policy committee that called on the federal opposition to abandon the welcome to country and limit the commonwealth’s official recognition of flags to those of the nation, the states and territories, and government institutions.

Asked about the apparent contradiction between himself and the two most senior federal Liberal MPs from WA, Mr Zempilas said the party welcomed a range of views.

“It is not unusual, it is not a requirement that everybody agrees and is on the same page with absolutely everything,” he said.

“I’ll just note that the former leader of the federal Liberal Party put some of these issues on the agenda pre the federal election and we know the results of that federal election. So I’m quite comfortable and quite confident in the position that I represent on behalf of the state parliamentary Liberal team, and that is supporting the status quo in relation to those issues.”

All three motions were emphatically supported by those at the state council, although Mr Zempilas left the meeting before the votes were cast.

He said he had always planned to leave the meeting before the vote due to another commitment.

Since becoming leader this year, Mr Zempilas, like federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, has tried to distance himself from the debate on culture war issues such as standing in front of the Aboriginal flag.

His predecessor, Libby Mettam, had said during the lead-up to the March state election that she would not stand in front of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at her press conferences if elected premier. The Liberals went on to record their third consecutive emphatic state election loss, securing just seven of the 59 state lower house seats.

While the motions themselves carry little weight, their endorsements by Mr Hastie and Senator Cash add to the pressure on Ms Ley to dump the net zero target.

Mr Hastie, who is considered a future Liberal leader, said “many of our party members are worried about Australia’s energy security, including my division of Canning”.

“This motion reflects their concerns, and we need to listen to them,” Mr Hastie told The Australian. “It’s understandable and appropriate that our party members have their say on energy policy while it is under review by the ­federal partyroom.”

The South Australian and Northern Territory branches of the party have passed similar motions, while Queensland is expected to follow suit.