The Nationals are expected to drop support for net zero after grassroots members voted to scrap the emissions reduction target.
A motion supporting the move was passed at the party’s annual federal council meeting in Canberra on Saturday, paving the way for the policy to be dumped at a meeting in the party room on Sunday.
A subsequent motion to abandon the Paris Agreement, the global pact to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above industrial levels, was withdrawn.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said his party believed in cutting emissions “but not at any cost”.
“We are not running away from reducing emissions, but we can do it in a better, fairer and cheaper way,” he said.
“We’re going to make sure that while the rest of the world is turning and understanding that completing net zero is very difficult, that Australia doesn’t expose itself to an uncompetitive position,” he told reporters in Canberra.
During Federal Council meetings, grassroots members can outline the rural party’s policy vision, which is then brought to the party room.
While the net zero vote is not binding on National MPs, they appear set to follow suit, with a party room meeting on Sunday to discuss climate and energy policy.
The motion called on the National Party to “relinquish its support for a net-zero mandate” while supporting a policy framework that enables emissions reductions.
This would be done by protecting key industries such as mining, agriculture and manufacturing through a ‘balanced’ energy mix of coal, gas and renewables.
It also called for lifting a federal moratorium on nuclear power, introduced in 1998 by former Prime Minister John Howard.
The net zero target remains a key sticking point within the coalition as the Liberal Party undertakes an energy policy review following its disastrous election defeat in May.
Under the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store them at the same rate it produces them by 2050, known as net zero.
Members must also set interim emissions reductions that are renewed every five years and must not weaken them.
Liberals have yet to definitively determine their position
Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said the Liberals would likely finalize their position six to nine months after the federal election, meaning a decision would likely come between November and January.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley said the coalition’s energy policy would not simply prioritize an emissions target.
“As I have said from the beginning, we will not accept the government’s net zero at any price,” she said on Friday.
From South Korea, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government is pressing ahead with the net zero transition, unperturbed by coalition feuds.
“I will allow people to watch that circus and make their own decisions,” he told reporters.
The Labor Government remains committed to net zero emissions and is targeting an interim target of a 62 to 70 percent emissions reduction by 2035.
A target to obtain 82 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030 is crucial to achieving climate goals.
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