Labor accused of sidestepping climate action in seizing on Coalition divisions over Joyce’s net zero bill

Labor has been accused of putting politics before climate action by seizing on Coalition divisions over Barnaby Joyce’s net zero repeal bill, as politicians returned to Canberra for the new parliamentary sitting fortnight.

The private members’ bill calls for policies to reduce net zero emissions by 2050 to be abolished, claiming the renewables transition won’t make a meaningful difference but rather cost households.

Labor allowed the debate in the chamber on Monday morning as it sought to capitalise on the internal division the bill has caused in the Coalition.

While there were no votes on the bill on Monday, two Queensland LNP members — Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien and Groom LNP MP Garth Hamilton — spoke in support of it.

Mr O’Brien said green energy projects were destroying regional communities and called it a “spectacular failure” that has cost taxpayers and that “blind obsession” with net zero was “a nightmare that needs to stop”.

He added that calling an end to the climate change laws “doesn’t mean you don’t believe in climate change”.

Mr Hamilton said the cost of renewables “fails the test of social license” and predicted the green technologies would end in a “valley of death”.

It comes after the Queensland Liberal National Conference voted to dump the party’s net zero by 2050 commitment, with The Nationals’ leader David Littleproud playing a key role.

Dickson MP Ali France labelled the push to repeal net zero as “bizarre” saying it “goes against the will of the people”, referring to climate-conscious voters ditching the party at the last election - including in her Queensland seat where she ousted their former leader Peter Dutton at the May election.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley has insisted Coalition won’t establish policy positions until after a review into their disastrous Federal Election performance on May 3 is complete.

Ms Ley has set up a working group to examine such policies led by shadow energy and emissions reduction spokesman Dan Tehan.

Rather than waiting for the policy review, Mr Joyce first introduced the bill in July with support of several other Coalition members - including former Nationals leader Michael McCormack.

Labor’s Macquarie Susan Templeman also spoke on the bill in the chamber and said Mr Joyce “going nuclear” net zero showed “The Nationals want to party like it’s 1999”.

Her comments echoed remarks made by Independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall on Monday, who labelled Mr Joyce a “fossil”, adding the bill would just render Coalition even more irrelevant.

“‘Fossils’ — It’s the only way I can describe people like Barnaby Joyce, they’re so much in the past,” she told a Canberra press conference.

Mr Joyce said he didn’t want the bill to be known as “Barnaby’s bill”, telling Sky News he wasn’t representing the Coalition in bringing it forward but rather on behalf of concerned constituents.

“It’s not about me. This is not Barnaby’s bill. This is a bill that I just happen to be the author of. It’s a repeal of net zero bill,” he said.

He said people in regional areas were “furious and angry” about the impacts of renewable projects and were “crying” about it “destroying” their lives.

“If you believe in net zero, it’s a situation… which brings the demolition of our industrial base,” he said.

“We have the lowest manufacturing now of the OECD. We have a cost of living crisis. We are putting people into their cars. We have record insolvencies in small businesses. And this is on the merry path to net zero.”

Ms Steggall also slammed Labor for allowing the “clown show” debate in Parliament to advance their own political agenda and draw out divisions in their rival party.

She turned the spotlight back on Labor, saying allowing the debate to run added to a long list of moves the Albanese Government has made in its second term to avoid acting on climate change.

Ms Steggall said it included ignoring requests for climate risk reliance to be debated at the Economic Reform Roundtable last week and failing to release its ‘one-off’ National Climate Risk Assessment.

It also comes after one of the first actions of the second-term Albanese Government was for Environment Minister Murray Watt to give the conditional approval of the North West Shelf gas project off the coast of WA.

“I have real questions about the Prime Minister’s commitment to climate change action,” Ms Steggall said.

“Their priorities are not where the Australian people expect them to be when it comes to climate action.”

Anthony Albanese on Monday defended his decision to give Mr Joyce airtime, accusing the Nationals of wanting to return “to the climate wars”.

“It certainly is about politics. It’s about politics and chaos on the other side,” Mr Albanese said.

“If you don’t support net zero, you don’t support action on climate change — it’s as simple as that.

“And the fact that the Coalition have become more right wing and more entrenched in their opposition to climate change action than the Morrison government was, is rather extraordinary.”

The Greens went as far as to call for an inquiry to be established into what it labelled was “Labor secrecy” around the Climate Risk Assessment.

Curtin MP Kate Chaney accused the Prime Minister of allowing Mr Joyce’s bill to use it as a contrast to Labor’s climate record and warned it shouldn’t be a comparison point.

“Australia cannot afford the government to decide that its climate ambition will be determined by the very low bar of Barnaby Joyce,” Ms Chaney said.

“We need to understand what our climate risk is, and we need a framework in place so that we can deal with that and not have our appetite for climate action to depend on being slightly better than the other guys.

“The government needs to be the adults here and actually face up to the facts, rather than burying them under the carpet.”

It comes as the Australian government is expected to legislate a 2035 emissions target in coming weeks ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Debate was adjourned and is expected to be resumed next Monday.