At least three former Liberal MPs have ridiculed Opposition decision to hit net zero by 2050 as an “existential crisis” and “another nail in the coffin” that will guarantee electoral irrelevance for the foreseeable future.
Guardian Australia spoke to former politicians and previous Liberal Party candidates who say any hopes of winning back city center and suburban seats in the next election have been dashed by the move.
“This will make these seats much harder to ever win,” said one former moderate lawmaker.
After months of lengthy meetings and infighting, the Liberal Party announced on Thursday it would abandon its statutory net-zero emissions target and its commitments to renewable energy projects, while sticking to the Paris Agreement – despite a clear contradiction to the agreement.
The Shadow Ministry agreed that a future coalition government would also abandon Labour's 43% emissions reduction target by 2030 and its 82% renewables target.
While detailed energy and emissions reduction policies have yet to be published, the Opposition said its approach would be “technology agnostic” and would include a mix of coal, gas, hydro, batteries, renewables and possibly nuclear.
Shadow Housing Secretary Andrew Bragg supported the decision but acknowledged that the Paris Agreement requires the government to set ambitious emissions reduction targets.
“Reducing emissions is important to us, as is lowering prices and increasing energy,” a prominent moderate senator told Sky News.
“So, I think we're trying to achieve these goals at the same time, rather than just picking one narrow goal that the government is pursuing.”
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The decision to scrap net zero follows the party's worst election defeat in 80 years, leaving the Liberal party's only MP – Goldstein's Tim Wilson – as its sole city center representative across the country.
The result follows the 2022 election when six independent MPs were elected to replace long-standing Liberal MPs – including in traditional blue ribbon seats – on platforms of support for climate, fairness and gender equality.
Another former MP, who lost his seat to Labor in May, said the result had “an air of existential crisis” and signaled the coalition agreement had undermined the Liberal Party's identity.
“I think you can already see what the Corfluts will say at the next election,” they said.
“I think what needs to happen is that the Coalition [only] exist to form a government, but you have to have a separate identity, a separate politics.”
A prominent Liberal candidate who will not stand again said it was “just another nail in the party's coffin”.
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“Yesterday guaranteed the loss of the votes of everyone under 50 in one fell swoop,” they said.
“If they think the party has a future because of this behavior, they are sadly mistaken. It might reassure the 80-year-olds who still linger in many branches, but this is a party without a soul. It is a party without a future.”
Former moderate Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, who lost his seat to Labor this year, said the debate over climate change and cutting emissions was “largely driven by emotion and virtue signaling”.
“Unless the Liberal Party in coalition wins more metro seats, it will always only be the voice of the opposition and I don't think that's in the best interests of the country,” Wolahan told Sky News.
But former Liberal MP Lucy Weeks, whose bid to return to federal politics failed in May's election, said the political announcement showed the party was “starting to stand for a purpose” even if it didn't win seats.
“I don't know what this might mean for us at the next election, but the most important thing we can do as a party is demonstrate to our community that we have a vision for Australia's future and bring people along with us on that journey,” she said.
“It’s not just about power, [or] about winning for the sake of winning. Policies must also be goal-oriented.”
Liberal-leaning think tank Blueprint Institute commissioned a poll from YouGov in August on voter attitudes towards the coalition.
The poll surveyed 5,007 voters and found that 52% of former Coalition voters said they would “only consider a party ready to govern if they have compelling policies to address climate change and its impacts.”
