Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reaffirmed as “absolute policy” the government’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050 after a coalition candidate appeared to describe the pledge as not binding.
Colin Boyce, the LNP candidate for the Queensland seat of Flynn, labelled the commitment “flexible” and noted “wiggle room” within it, a view Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce described as “completely understandable”.
The comments prompted Labor to demand the prime minister clarify the government’s position.
“Scott Morrison has a job to do today – is net zero a firm commitment of the government, or is it simply a flexible guideline as the candidate for Flynn has said?” opposition energy spokesman Chris Bowen told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
The coalition was saying one thing on climate change action in seats such as Hinkler in Queensland, and another in Higgins in metropolitan Melbourne and Queens Park in eastern Sydney, he said.
“They want to be on both sides of the stream – well they can’t be.”
Mr Morrison claimed Mr Boyce was talking about the pathway to net zero, rather than the strength of the pledge.
“He wasn’t talking about the commitment itself, he has clarified that,” he told reporters in Townsville.
“Our commitment to net zero by 2050 is a commitment of the Australian government that I made in Glasgow. It is the government’s absolute policy.
“As technologies change and improve, we are going to get there and we will get there by the best method possible.
Mr Boyce earlier said the net-zero pledge would not be legislated, although moderate Liberal MP Dave Sharma has previously described it as binding.
“It leaves us wiggle room as we proceed into the future. Morrison’s statement that he has made is not binding,” Mr Boyce told the ABC on Tuesday.
The Liberals and Nationals agreed to an unlegislated target of net-zero emissions by 2050, following tense negotiations ahead of the COP26 UN climate change conference in late 2021.
Mr Joyce acknowledged the government was on a pathway to net zero, but insisted major export sectors such as coal could not be exited immediately.
“We have acknowledged that along that pathway, it is not a lineal form,” he told reporters in Shepparton while campaigning in central Victoria.
“We understand that for this nation’s economy to prevail, we cannot just step aside from our second biggest export or our third biggest export, that would be completely and utterly economically irresponsible.”
Asked whether Labor’s own climate targets were designed to appeal to voters in a number of marginal seats, Mr Bowen said the party’s targets would be sold nationwide.
Labor is aiming for a 43 per cent emissions cut by 2030, exceeding the government’s forecast figure of 35 per cent, but falling well short of a 75 per cent pledge by the Greens.
“Labor’s climate policy is determined by science and economics … our policy, I sell it in regional Queensland, in Sydney, in Melbourne,” Mr Bowen said.
“It’s a good policy and stands up to scrutiny anywhere in Australia.”
