Political earthquake as the Liberals announce COAL for Australia in astonishing backflip as they ditch net zero

The Liberal Party has officially dumped its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 and opened the door to building new coal power stations and extending the life of existing ones.

After weeks of internal turmoil and a tense shadow cabinet meeting, leader Sussan Ley announced the party will abandon its policy commitment to achieve net zero emissions by mid-century.

‘If elected, we will remove the 43 per cent 2030 target and its net zero by 2050 target from the Climate Change Act,’ she said. 

‘Australians deserve affordable energy and responsible emissions reduction. And the Liberal Party believes we can do both – but affordable energy must come first,’ Ley said.

‘Under Labor, there has been this trifecta of failures: prices up, reliability down, and emissions flatlining. 

‘Labor’s net zero policies of mandates and taxes are hurting businesses, and they’re pushing up prices.  

‘Despite promises of cheaper energy, prices have increased substantially under Labor.’

Energy spokesman Dan Tehan said the party was not opposed to opening new coal power plants.  

‘We will take a technology agnostic approach. So we will let the market determine how we go about that approach. 

The party will also support existing coal power plants.   

‘We will support the state governments… who are already sweating their coal assets,’ Tehan said. 

‘We have to make sure we keep capacity in the system.

‘We will use all our natural resources to bring downward pressure on energy prices.

‘Getting capacity into the system is an absolute priority.

‘We will be the only party – or the only two parties, as a coalition – that is saying to the Australian people, when it comes to energy abundance, we will use all our resources, and when it comes to reducing emissions we will also use all of the available technology.’

Senator Anne Ruston warned that removing coal too quickly risked destabilising the grid.

‘State governments are already extending the life of coal-fired power stations because they have to keep the lights on,’ she said.

‘It demonstrates that you need baseload power… it is what keeps the lights on.’

The Liberals will now take the new policy to the Nationals to negotiate a shared position on Sunday. 

‘We hope and anticipate we can land after Sunday a joint policy that allows us all to fight the Labor Party,’ Ley said. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused the Coalition of walking away from climate science, describing the party as a ‘clown show’ after senior conservatives marched into the party room on Wednesday in a show of force against net zero.

‘They’re walking away from climate action because they fundamentally do not believe in the science of climate change,’ Albanese said. 

‘Australians cannot afford to keep paying the price of Coalition infighting.’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the opposition dropping net-zero would take Australia backwards.

‘They’re walking away from climate action because they fundamentally do not believe in the science of climate change,’ he told reporters in Sydney.

‘Australians cannot afford to keep paying the price of coalition infighting when it comes to climate policy and energy policy.’

Yesterday, net-zero critics including Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie marched into the Liberal party room in a show of unity against the target. 

Albanese seized the moment, branding the whole episode a joke. 

‘It was a show of division, that’s what it was. These were people who many of whom have either challenged or resigned from the front bench,’ Albanese said.

‘You had Angus Taylor walking with his counterparts. This was a sign of opposition to Sussan Ley’s leadership, and it was a rather extraordinary moment

‘And the pictures were very deliberate, for people to gather beforehand – in formation – in order to send that message, and that message was surely received…the clown show they have become.’