Barnaby Joyce ‘100 per cent onboard’ with net zero by 2050 climate target

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has confirmed he is “100 per cent onboard with the goal” of a net zero emissions target by 2050. The junior Coalition partner agreed to support the Federal Government’s climate policy on Sunday following a week of deliberations, despite reports Mr Joyce told his colleagues he did not agree with the plan. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will now take the emissions target to the UN climate summit in Glasgow, which begins on October 31. Mr Joyce said on Monday that he supported the 2050 emissions target, which is yet to be revealed to the Australian public. “I’ve said it quite clearly and unambiguously — I am 100 per cent onboard with the goal to achieve net zero by 2050 because that was the decision of the Nationals party room,” Mr Joyce told ABC Radio National. “I can’t make it clearer than that. Each one of us agreed to the process. “We would never have had to go into a negotiation if the Nationals at the start were 100 per cent happy with where the proposition was.” Federal Cabinet is expected to meet on Monday to formally endorse the plan. It comes after Labor criticised the Commonwealth for taking too long to agree to the target — saying it should update Australia’s 2030 emissions target. Mr Joyce said the Nationals had successfully negotiated a better outcome for regional Australia. “I’m very happy with the outcome we have negotiated,” he said. “But it’s very important that regional Australia understands that the Prime Minister was going to Glasgow, regardless of whether the National Party agreed or not. “So we had two choices to negotiate a better deal, or to resign ourselves to the Thespian cries from outside and have no effect on behalf of the people who'd raise concerns with us. “The most logical thing for the Nationals to do was to negotiate a better outcome for regional Australia.” Nationals Deputy Leader David Littleproud said it had been a “respectful process” with the Liberals. “We’ve done this in a very mature sense. We worked through this calmly and rationally as a party,” he told the ABC. “The Prime Minister and the Treasurer have been working closely with the Deputy Prime Minister and myself and our party room, along with Angus Taylor, to make sure that we’ve got the comfort of securing those jobs in regional Australia now and creating new jobs.” However, former resources minister Senator Matt Canavan said he was against the decision to agree to a net zero emissions target by 2050 — saying it was “a bad deal” for Australia. “I don’t agree with the decision. I think this remains a bad deal for this country,” he the Today Show. “Somebody in this place has got to stand up for the workers of Australia and I’ll keep doing that because I think net zero is going to end in tears. “It is going to end in higher power prices, fewer jobs for Australians and make us weaker at a time where China is being pretty aggressive in our region. “I’ll keep up the fight. I had a loss yesterday. I couldn’t have fought any harder.” Former Veteran Affairs Minister Darren Chester said there was a “strong majority” in the Nationals Party room that supported the net-zero by 2050 proposal. He said he hoped the climate wars would now end. “There was a strong majority who took view that we could support the Prime Minister’s position with the appropriate safeguards in place,” he said. Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack fell victim to a leadership spill earlier this year, with his move towards more ambitious climate action cited as one of the reasons the Party voted him out of leadership. But Mr Chester said yesterday’s outcome proved the spill was never about policy. “At the time I said it was an act of political treachery … and I stand by those comments,” he said. “This didn’t have anything to do with policy at the time, it was people wanting Michael’s job.” Mr Chester said that if the Nationals members against the net-zero by 2050 target wanted to leave the Coalition that was “up to them”. Mr Morrison is expected to make an announcement on the climate change plan on Tuesday.

Barnaby Joyce ‘100 per cent onboard’ with net zero by 2050 climate target

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