\n<\/p>\n
Barnaby Joyce and other leading opponents of net zero by 2050 want Australia to build new coal-fired power plants, focus on gas and nuclear energy and abandon all efforts to cut carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
As the former Nationals leader pushes a private member\u2019s bill to block net zero \u2013 sparking new divisions within the Liberals and Nationals this week \u2013 he said any long-term emissions reduction from renewables would not make a meaningful difference to the climate and would cost households too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want net zero, then nuclear can give you net zero at a vastly more affordable rate than intermittents [renewable energy],\u201d Joyce told Guardian Australia, arguing countries including China were not cutting emissions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI absolutely disagree \u2013 if the rest of the world\u2019s not doing it, if it has no global effect, then it\u2019s a self-written economic suicide note.\u201d<\/p>\n
China\u2019s emissions dipped for the first time in 2025, down 1% from their peak, amid huge government investments in renewables projects. The country is the world\u2019s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but is also the world\u2019s biggest supplier and installer of clean energy technology.<\/p>\n
The share of coal in China\u2019s power mix has dropped to the lowest level since 2016, to just over 50%.<\/p>\n
Joyce\u2019s bill is scheduled for debate in August when parliament returns for another sitting fortnight.<\/p>\n
The Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan is leading the party\u2019s review of net zero policies in the wake of the 3 May election. He said Australia should build new coal-fired power stations, like developments happening in China, the US, India and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we should put Australians first because nothing we do is going to change any temperature of the globe one iota by not building a coal-fired power station,\u201d Canavan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if we do build some new cheap coal-fired power stations, we just may save manufacturing jobs in this country, bring down the cost of energy and bring down the cost of everyday goods for Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the CSIRO\u2019s 2024-25 GenCost report, renewables, firmed by gas and backed by transmission, remain the cheapest new form of electricity generation technology.<\/p>\n
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said on Thursday the party would have a settled position within \u201ca couple of months\u201d.<\/p>\n
Net zero underpins Australia\u2019s participation in the Paris climate agreement. Independent authorities, including the CSIRO, say failing to stem carbon emissions will lead to changes in weather including extreme heat, heavy rainfall, coastal inundation, bushfires and drought, while exacerbating health and wellbeing problems and causing destruction of ecosystems and species.<\/p>\n
Joyce has teamed up with his former rival and another ex-Nationals leader, Michael McCormack. McCormack said emissions should not be curbed at the expense of manufacturing, farming or food supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy constructing tens of thousands of kilometres of transmission lines across rural and regional Australia in pursuit of a false ideology, the government is industrialising fertile rural farmland on a massive scale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/span><\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n During their 48-hour split with the Liberals in May, the Nationals included nuclear energy policy as a key demand for reuniting the Coalition. Many of the opponents of net zero are advocates for nuclear being included in Australia\u2019s energy supply.<\/p>\n The shadow energy and emissions reductions minister, Dan Tehan, confirmed this week his review for the Liberal party would take nine to 12 months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key focus between now and Christmas is going to be on gas,\u201d he said in a press conference with the opposition leader, Sussan Ley.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to bring more gas on to the system, but also we need to explore carbon capture and storage.\u201d<\/p>\n Coalition frontbencher Andrew Hastie helped win support for an anti-net zero motion at last weekend\u2019s Western Australia Liberal state conference.<\/p>\n He did not respond to requests for comment from the Guardian about alternatives to net zero, but said in an email to supporters his opposition \u201creflects a growing concern from mainstream Australians about our expensive energy bills, unreliable supply, and the erosion of our national sovereignty\u201d.<\/p>\n The former prime minister Tony Abbott is cheering on anti-net zero moves from outside parliament, including in an Institute of Public Affairs podcast this week.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we are in favour of net zero, all of these economy-damaging measures are justified. If we want to avoid the economy-damaging measures, perhaps we do need to make that very symbolic act of saying, \u2018well, actually, we\u2019re not committed to net zero,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In an interview with former Canadian conservative politician Derek Fildebrandt in June, Abbott said Australia should continue to rely on fossil fuels. He said cutting emissions would cause \u201cus to live like the Amish, or worse\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf climate change is approached as a moral issue, the left wins. If climate change is approached as an economic issue, the right wins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I accept that climate does change, that mankind does make a difference, and that we should do what we can to reduce emissions, but I would always add this critical rider \u2013 but not if it costs you your job, costs us our industries, and puts up your cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Barnaby Joyce and other leading opponents of net zero by 2050 want Australia to build new coal-fired power plants, focus on gas and nuclear energy and abandon all efforts to cut carbon emissions. As the former Nationals leader pushes a private member\u2019s bill to block net zero \u2013 sparking new divisions within the Liberals and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[634,7386,2154,1772,611,7385,6386,3905,2445,3541],"class_list":{"0":"post-13702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-call","9":"tag-canavan","10":"tag-coal","11":"tag-coalition","12":"tag-energy","13":"tag-joyce","14":"tag-plants","15":"tag-projects","16":"tag-renewable","17":"tag-replace"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}