A year is a long time in politics. At the first meeting of my party earlier this year I suggested that we should campaign hard at the forthcoming election against Labor’s carbon tax, or Safeguard Mechanism as they call it.
This tax requires almost all mines, including coal mines, to pay to reduce their emissions to net zero over time. I got a non-committal answer, and it was not clear that we would roll back Labor’s carbon taxes. At the time, the LNP were ahead in the polls, but I thought we were losing momentum and needed something to keep on track.
Instead, we played it safe to try and fall over the line rather than push for the win. Just like in a game of footy, if you play to protect your lead, you usually lose.
Not only did we lose. We were thrashed. Since the Liberal and Nationals parties signed up to net zero, the Liberals have lost 34 seats. The 2025 election was the worst election result for the Coalition since World War II.
Following the election, I thought that things had to change. So, I ran for leader of the Nationals party on a platform that we should dump support for net zero and, by extension, all the carbon taxes and net zero restrictions that are invading our lives.
I did not have much hope of winning because the Nationals have never had a leader from the Senate. But my challenge did force a serious reflection on whether net zero was the right approach for Australia. Our re-elected leader, David Littleproud, asked Senator Ross Cadell and me to conduct a review of our net zero policy.
While we were conducting our review, Liberal or Nationals state divisions passed motions opposed to net zero in every State of mainland Australia, normally with the support of more than 90 per cent. Those wanting to continue to support net zero often resort to saying that we had to agree to net zero to win an election. I do not understand how they thought we could win on such an important issue that our members were dead set against.
My view is that the LNP can only win an election by arguing for things that are common sense. And it is not common sense for Australia to race ahead of the rest of the world on emissions reduction. Doing so would just make us poorer but do nothing for the environment.
In the 10 years since the Paris Agreement, Australia has cut its emissions by double the rate of other developed countries. The Government has announced that over the next 10 years it wants to cut emissions at a rate of 21 million tonnes per year, which would be triple the rate of developed countries.
Our over-achievement on emissions reductions has seen Australian energy prices surge by 40 per cent since and we have lost over 7000 manufacturing jobs since we signed up to net zero. Australian factories now pay more than three times what Indonesian factories pay for electricity. Indonesia stole our nickel industry last year and they are massively expanding their coal industry as ours stagnates.
By the end of the year, we had another meeting. This time all this evidence and common sense won the day. First, the Nationals party and then the Liberal party dropped support for net zero. Instead, we have agreed to run our energy system to deliver the lowest possible prices for the Australian people. We will sensibly reduce emissions but do so in line with the developed world not by racing ahead and placing an unfair cost on Australians.
So, this year has been the tale of two meetings. The first one demoralised me. But in the last the LNP rediscovered our fighting spirit and that gives us a fighting chance for the future.
Hon Matt Canavan
Senator for QLD
