Coalition’s climate and energy policy in disarray as opposition splits over nuclear and renewables

The MacIntyre windfarm in Queensland. The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says Australia doesn’t need ‘large-scale industrial windfarms’ such as those proposed for an offshore zone south of Sydney. Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian

The federal Coalition’s climate and energy policy is in disarray, with a senior Liberal contradicting the Nationals’ anti-renewables push and the Queensland LNP leader ruling out allowing nuclear energy in that state.

After the Nationals further undermined the push for net zero by 2050 by claiming the Coalition would “cap” investment in large-scale renewable energy, the Liberal leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, declared on Tuesday it is an “important part of the mix”.