War of words heats up amid Liberals’ climate battle
Zac de Silva, Tess Ikonomou and Andrew Brown |
A Liberal senator has blasted one of her colleagues for suggesting Sussan Ley’s leadership could be under threat ahead of a series of crucial meetings where MPs will lock down their energy and climate change policy.
Conservative senator Sarah Henderson said on Friday the Liberals’ political fortunes were flagging and Ms Ley was losing support.
Fellow Liberal Maria Kovacic said those comments were unnecessary.
“To actually suggest that a leader who is doing exactly what they said they would do … to say that they’ve done something wrong, I think it’s completely unhelpful and to be frank, probably somewhat undisciplined,” she told ABC Radio on Monday.
“We should be focused on what Australians need from us, not what we think of a particular process that a leader has put into place,” Senator Kovacic said.
Senator Henderson rejected the criticism, saying backbenchers could “agree to disagree”.
“There’s nothing undisciplined about that,” she told Sky News.
“This is a very important week for the Liberal Party to get its house in order.”
Liberal MPs and senators will meet in Canberra on Wednesday to discuss their approach to energy and climate change, with the party’s cabinet to decide its official policy the day after.
Because the Nationals have announced their plan to abandon Australia’s climate targets if they win government, a joint meeting of Liberals and Nationals has been called for Sunday, when the coalition partners will attempt to lock in a compromise.
Conservatives within the Liberal Party have urged Ms Ley to drop support for net zero, while moderates want the policy kept for a better chance of winning back seats in city areas.
Senator Kovacic said the coalition could remain intact despite different stances on net zero but needed to work through the policy together.
“The challenge for us is that if we get these policies wrong, if we get the way we articulate this to Australians wrong, then our ability to regain this trust will be further damaged,” she said.
A consensus position on emission targets within the coalition would be challenging but still achievable, opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said.
“I’ve never said this would be easy. I’ve always said it’s going to be like threading a needle, but I want to do it in a respectful way, in a way where I can take my colleagues into confidence and try and work through this,” he told ABC Radio.
“What I’m seeking to do this week is to make sure that we’ve got a policy offering when it comes to energy and emissions reduction, which is in the national interest.”
AAP
