Really I don’t see any point in the Coalition maintaining any support for net zero.
I mean they could hardly go into any future election arguing that they have a “commitment” to net zero. That’d be like a couple working out their marriage vows and, a few days before the ceremony, one of them saying: “You know that bit about ‘forsaking all others’, well, can we just leave it out. Oh, and while we’re at it, the ‘until death’ bit… Could we change that to ‘as long as we both feel like it’?”
You’d hardly feel like they were really up for the whole marriage thing and that they might as well just continue the way they are because it’s pretty clear that at least one of them was only into the idea because they figured it was a good way to get a new toaster… which, from memory, is why the Nationals signed up.
You remember? Scotty Of The Many Ministries offered them all sorts of incentives to sign up. I can’t remember if there was a new toaster, but they did get an extra cabinet position and a promise of a Regional Future Fund. I guess they won’t be getting either of these, so there’s really no need to support net zero because they won’t be getting the set of steak knives either.
A number of people have been talking about how we can’t afford net zero and how it’s hurting people and it’s really, really bad. They haven’t been very specific about which things exactly are costing money and which things are hurting people but I’m sure that they could make a pretty convincing case if someone asked them to do so.
I mean, people are quite capable of arguing anything. Recently, Victoria passed legislation enabling a Treaty with the Indigenous Traditional Owners, and some people made the case that we’d voted against the Voice so that meant that it’s quite reasonable to co-opt any action taken that involves anyone Indigenous and pretend that people voted against it when they voted not include the something about a Voice in the Constitution.
Any suggestion of a treaty, truth-telling commission, funding (either extra or current), or anything else gets attacked because PEOPLE VOTED… Well, they did vote against something else entirely and most of it makes as little sense as saying that Senator Price should be banned from speaking because we voted against the Voice… Actually that makes more sense, because we were told that the Voice would just be a lot of hot air from Canberra and not representative, which sounds more like Senator Price than any of the other things I’ve mentioned.
Anyway, back to net zero. Supporting it has caused a few problems for the Coalition because some of them are only pretending to support it while others openly admit they don’t! The latter group are threatening the unity of the Coalition by pointing out that they really don’t think that climate change is all that big a problem and that we’d be better off to make hay while the sun shines… which’ll happen more often if there were a rise in temperature. Anyway, it rained last week and doesn’t that prove that the climate is always changing.
Whatever, Barnaby has announced that he won’t be contesting his seat because he feels that his party doesn’t appreciate him any more and he may have to consider his options. Also, he can’t support net zero because zero is nothing and how can you support nothing, and no, he isn’t committed to joining One Nation or to anything really… except family values. A commitment so strong that he needed to start a second family. Perhaps that’s his plan for the future: I can’t commit to my current party so I’ll start another one which suits me better.
Yes, that’s probably the best option for everyone in the Coalition. Breaking up into the various factions:
- The “We Don’t Believe In Climate Change” Faction
- The “We Believe In Climate Change But Don’t Believe We Can Do Anything About It” Faction
- The “We Believe In Climate Change And We Believe That We Should Pretend That We’re Doing Something About It” Faction
- The “We Don’t Believe We Lost The Last Election And We’re Committed To Appearing On All The Shows That Will Tell Us That This Is True” Faction
- The “We Think We’ll Become PM Not Long After Taking The Leadership” Faction
That last faction tends to operate independently of itself.
By the time the next election comes around I doubt that anyone will take any commitment on net zero seriously unless it’s a promise to abolish it. I don’t think that’ll win them any votes but at least it’ll sound honest…
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The Nucking Fashionals under D. Littleprong is an open farcical “secret”, a little gang of minnows nibbling away for relevance and donors and funding and influence for the Swinefart factor, i e., make money now and what if the world gets stuffed???… there’ll be no evidence, charges, courts, responsibilities, nothing to pin anything on US. Ignorant to the last corpustle, stupid beyond reasonable boundaries, indifferently ignorant of science, the Littleprongers spray on and on. Bladderboy Joyce, the footpath flattener and nomadic fornicator is their SOUL, their guide. What upchuckery, stupidity and careless soullessness.
The “We Believe In Climate Change And We Believe That We Should Pretend That We’re Doing Something About It” Faction
So, just like the ALP …
The Tories will always try to sabotage any thing to do with ecology.
Barnaby dumped the Coalition, now the Coalition should dump Sussan Ley.
Thank you Phil. I always know I’m not alone when I read your comments.
It was Scott Morrison, a former Liberal prime minister with numerous other ministerial portfolios, who committed Australia to a net zero emissions target by 2050. He now says that pledge, at COP26, was just ‘ideology’ on the part of his then minister for the environment [which was, in fact, himself in a frock] and as soon as Labor signed on it was no longer a commitment.
What the Nationals do doesn’t amount to a hill of beans but you have to give it to them, for a Party who achieved four percent of the national vote, they are very noisy about what they won’t do. One comforting thing to come from all this is that Barnaby Joyce will not stand for the Lower House at the next election and with any luck may actually exit politics : now that is a positive move that we can all applaud.
Poor Sussan has got to come up with a plausible story for why she too will walk away from “Labor’s Net Zero” commitment which, in actual fact, is the coalition’s net zero commitment.
Andrew Hastie is keeping very quiet and will probably have to assume Liberal leadership sooner than he had planned: former IPA interns Tim Wilson and James Paterson are at the ready to form a new Liberal leadership team with John Howard’s endorsement.
Meanwhile Labor are recruiting a drover’s dog to take them to the next election – there will be no more dodgy Rock’n’roll T-shirts permitted, and that comes directly from the desk of Sharri Markson!
Oh, by the way, I understand the new National’s energy policy embraces: nuclear, coal, gas, whale oil, pig excretia, windmills and solar panels and Malcolm Turnbull’s pumped hydro [which won’t be ready until 2065]. Sounds like a winner to me!
Gina must very proud and pleased with her Gnats and will no doubt give them extra brown envelopes. It has her stench all over it.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/02/nationals-party-room-meeting-net-zero-emissions-target-david-littleproud
The sad fact is that the National party decision to move away from a 2050 target has opened up the floodgates for misinformation, spin and outright lies.
Littleproud came out this morning to justify not having a target by saying on the ABC RN Breakfast show that the costs will be:
$1.5 trillion in the next 6.5 years to reduce Australia’s comparatively poultry emissions by 43% and conservatively up to $9 trillion by 2060 to achieve our ‘net zero ambition’.
This glib analysis from Littleproud clearly needs scrutiny but so far there is none forthcoming.
Interestingly the TV news in Qld shows the dramatic results of 5-7cm hail in various areas – the biggest impact seemed to be smashed rooftop solar panels.
Now, the 4% un-Australians, i e., “Nationals” (leave out Socialist German Workers’ Party) with Mussolino Canavan, the gold medalist dunce speaking, has announced its policy, which is to have no scientific, sensible, honest, moral, ethical policy, on emissions. Fat Frau of the West money and Merde Dog backing is enough for mental pygmies to feel wanted and prosperous. And Doggydungey Bananaboy floats along, guessing…and this shittery misfittery poxey non-policy is theirs…
Phil, unlike you I have had no contact with “mental pygmies” but their views carry as much weight as yours.
We have had to decades of our political duopoly doing nothing to address Environmental Degradation,, they have watched coal fired power stations die of old age. They have denied this country of access to nuclear energy.
Now in a state of panic both parties want to destroy farming land, while buying nuclear submarines!!
I happen to believe the National parties decision is the right one, please tell where you think it has failed us?
And they cocked up over gas as well.