Trent Zimmerman says Liberals should embrace Labor’s climate policy

Former MP Trent Zimmerman said climate change was one of the ‘key issues’ that cost Liberal moderates like himself inner-city seats at the 2022 federal election. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The outgoing Liberal moderate Trent Zimmerman says his former colleagues should embrace Labor’s 43% emissions reduction target if the Coalition wants to win back the Liberal party’s progressive heartland at the next federal election.

Zimmerman, a prominent moderate, lost his seat on 21 May to the teal independent Kylea Tink. On Monday he told the ABC that if the incoming Liberal leadership wanted to win back electorates like North Sydney, or other seats where the government’s record on climate change was a problem, having a “sensible approach” needed to be at the top of the list.