Barnaby Joyce’s future with the Nationals remains unclear, but his position on net zero is anything but. Photo: The Nationals.
Barnaby Joyce’s bill to repeal the net zero emissions targets is again being debated in parliament and again finding more support within Coalition ranks.
Liberal MP Tony Pasin from regional South Australia has thrown his weight behind the bill, saying net zero is a “costly illusion” and a “moral vanity project” that is hurting regional Australians.
“It’s easy to preach climate virtue from an inner city office. It’s much harder to pay the power bill on a farm, or keep the lights on in a small workshop in regional Australia,” Mr Pasin said while speaking on the bill.
“Everywhere I go across my electorate, people are telling me the same thing – the power bills are crippling them, businesses are closing, farmers are furious at the destruction of their country for wind and solar projects that tear up paddocks, divide neighbours and desecrate landscapes.
“These so-called renewables aren’t clean, and they’re not green. They’re future landfill industrial junk that will one day be left rusting in our fields.”
Nationals leader David Littleproud, however, told journalists in the corridors of Parliament House that his party won’t be deciding its position on net zero until it has a viable replacement for it.
“We won’t be making a decision today. This is a complex piece of policy that we, as a party room, determined together after the election that we would work through a structured process,” he said.
“Not just simply say no, which would be the easy thing to do. But we have to say, if we’re going to say no, what we are going to do.
“I get that that takes time, but I’d rather do it right and be able to look the Australian people in the eye. And we encourage Barnaby to be part of that solution …
“It would be easy just to say no and walk away and think that we’re heroes, but we’re not going to be able to convince the Australian people of an alternative policy unless we have one. Just ‘no’ is not an alternative policy.”
Mr Joyce did not join the Nationals party room on Monday (27 October) but is still sitting with the Coalition in the chamber.
He recently announced his intention not to recontest his New England seat in the Lower House at the next federal election. This week, he informed Mr Littleproud that he won’t join party meetings in this parliamentary fortnight.
The relationship between Mr Joyce and Mr Littleproud is reportedly at its lowest ebb, and Mr Joyce has even been considering joining One Nation to advance his anti-net-zero push.
But the Nationals leader has urged Mr Joyce to stay with the party and rejoin its meetings.
“I’ve made it very clear to him that he’s welcome back at any time and he can make a constructive contribution with the rest of the party room,” Mr Littleproud said.
“He needs only to walk in and talk to the room.”
But there’s no suggestion Mr Joyce will be offered a front bench role to entice him to stay in the party.
The former Nationals leader and former Deputy Prime Minister was demoted to the back bench following this year’s federal election.
It has also been reported that former opposition leader Peter Dutton tried to get Barnaby to quit the parliament before the May election, saying he was no longer wanted.
It is all an obvious source of frustration for Mr Joyce, as is the Coalition’s reluctance to give his anti-net-zero bill its full support.
But Mr Littleproud doesn’t appear to be buckling to pressure to reassign him to a shadow ministry.
“It’s important that we continue to invest in others who are coming through,” the Nationals leader said.
“Give them the opportunity.”
Speaking on Sky News just before lunch on Monday, Mr Joyce repeated his position against the net-zero-by-2050 target, but would not say if he would rejoin the Nationals party room if support for the target were dropped.
“My position is adamantly against net zero. I don’t want to be part of the discussion of an amelioration of net zero,” he said.
“I’m Barnaby Joyce, and I’m very proud of it… I’m a parliamentarian that’s had the incredible blessing of representing the people of New England, and I’ll continue to do what is best for the people of New England …
“I just think that you’ve got to go with a bloc of votes in the end [but] I’m not going to cut and dice into where I’m going.”
