Barnaby Joyce’s private member’s bill to scrap Australia’s net zero emissions targets has been debated in parliament on Monday morning, with independent MP Zali Steggall labelling the bill a “clown show”.
The bill, which has no chance of passing, was given space in the House of Representatives today to be debated – largely a political move by Labor to highlight the Coalition’s inability to move beyond its internal climate denialism.
Joyce’s bill has pushed the Coalition’s internal troubles back into the spotlight, especially as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley urged the Queensland LNP to “modernise” over the weekend.
Nationals MP Llew O’Brien supported Joyce’s bill, telling the House of Representatives he believed climate change was “real” but having a net zero target was “economic sabotage”.
That prompted Labor MP Susan Templeman to say: “The Nationals want to party like it’s 1999. To be fair the Howard government in 1999 was in theory supporting action on climate change but then changed its mind on supporting the Kyoto protocol.”
Speaking to reporters before parliament began this morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Joyce’s bill defied reality.
“If you get rid of net zero, you are saying climate change is not real, and you do not need to do anything about it,” Albanese said.
“It is defying what we see happening around this and defying the science.”
Outside of the chamber, Zali Stegall said Barnaby Joyce was showing how “irrelevant” the Coalition was at the moment.
“While the vast majority of Australians are concerned about the security risks and safety risks of their communities [because of climate change],” she told reporters.
With such a significant majority in the House of Representatives, Labor’s dominance means Joyce’s bill has no way of gaining traction. Labor allowed for debate on the bill simply to highlight how out of touch and internally conflicted the Coalition is.
It also comes as the Climate Change Authority, chaired by former Liberal Party treasurer Matt Kean, will soon put forward a recommendation of a 2035 emissions reduction target, expected to be between 65 and 75 per cent. Polling released today shows 44 per cent of voters supported an emissions reduction target within that range, an increase to the current target of 43 per cent by 2030.
The Liberal Party and the Nationals are still reviewing their climate and energy policies following defeat at the May election.