Nationals senator Matt Canavan says the party’s position on net zero by 2050 is not settled, as embattled leader David Littleproud stood by last week’s short-term split from the Liberals – even if it were to cost him his job.
Amid speculation Littleproud could be rolled over the spat with the senior Coalition partner, Canavan contradicted his party’s deputy leader, Kevin Hogan, on Sunday when he pledged to keep fighting net zero policies he called “crazy”.
“We haven’t had this debate yet. We haven’t adopted a position on net zero since the election as the Nationals party room so a leader cannot take that forward without the authority of the room,” Canavan told Sky News.
Hogan told ABC TV on Sunday that the Nationals’ position on net zero climate policies was settled.
“The Nationals support net zero [by] 2050,” he said, stressing the policy was settled seven years ago and “that’s not up for review or being changed”.
But Canavan said another debate would take place. The Queensland senator unsuccessfully ran for the party’s leadership to end support for policies designed to limit carbon emissions in line with Australia’s obligations under the Paris climate agreement.
“There is a willingness to open this up,” he told Sky News on Sunday. “There’s a question about when and how we do that, so maybe I was a battering ram that was too soon on that issue.”
Canavan said of the Coalition: “I am sorry to be upfront and honest with my colleagues, but we’re kind of irrelevant right now. We’re almost irrelevant in the Senate, certainly in the house.”
Littleproud said on Sunday he didn’t care if he lost the leadership, insisting the majority of his MPs supported last week’s move to break up the Coalition, which was subsequently reversed.
Liberal MPs have claimed Littleproud “shredded” his authority over the on-again off-again split while former Nationals leaders Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack are now jostling within the party room.
Littleproud said he expected a new Coalition agreement to be signed within days and defended his list of demands to the opposition leader, Sussan Ley.
“I’d rather go to [the party room] standing for something and if I have to lose my job for it, I don’t care,” he told Sky News.
“This was a principled decision that the men and women of my party room made. I’m proud of them … [proud of] the fact that we got an outcome in two or three days because of principles over politics.”
The Nationals last week said they would break up the Coalition for the first time since 1987 over four policy demands to the Liberals – but backtracked on Thursday after Ley sought a reconciliation.
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The Liberals agreed in principle to demands on nuclear power, a $20bn regional development fund, telecommunication services guarantees and a break-up powers for big retailers.
“I’m expecting that Sussan and I can get to that arrangement in the coming couple of days, when we can, we can meet up and catch up, so we’ll work through that together in a constructive way,” Littleproud said on Sunday.
On Friday, McCormack, who led the Nationals from 2018 to 2021, appeared to question Littleproud’s leadership, invoking Scott Morrison’s hollow support for Malcolm Turnbull at the height of Liberal leadership dramas.
When questioned if Littleproud would have his full support, McCormack said: “I’m ambitious for him,” echoing Morrison’s statement in 2018.
“I’m not planning to roll David any time soon. This week has been messy, it has.”
Joyce has privately flagged support for a possible challenge by McCormack. But Hogan labelled questions about a leadership change “hypothetical”.
“David has followed a process with the permission given to him by the room. He got the room’s approval to do all of this … not one of his greatest fans, Matt Canavan has come out and congratulated him and said he’s done a great job.”
Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg dismissed suggestions that some in his party wanted Littleproud rolled.
“That’s garbage, and I think that’s people with too much time on their hands, perhaps,” he said.
