In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s resounding victory in the 2024 US presidential election, pressure is mounting within Australia’s Coalition opposition to abandon its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The calls for a major policy shift are being led by prominent Queensland Nationals MPs who argue that the Coalition needs to align itself more closely with the Republican president-elect’s stance on climate change.
Leading the charge is MP Keith Pitt, who believes that Trump’s win should prompt a serious rethink of the Coalition’s approach to emissions reduction. “We need to consider our policies around net zero and their impact on the cost of living for every Australian and adopt policy that the Australian people can actually afford,” Pitt told media sources on Thursday.
He pointed to Trump’s success as evidence that bold positions on contentious issues can resonate with voters. “Clearly president-elect Trump took bold positions on a number of policies and was successful,” Pitt said. “We will be in a contest with an Albanese government, which, in my view, went too far, too fast and at too high a cost to the people on their climate policies and, if we want there to be a contest at the next election, we will need to have a policy position that is sufficiently different.”
Canavan Calls for Paris Accord Exit
Pitt’s Senate colleague Matt Canavan went even further, taking to social media to openly advocate for Australia to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and “unleash a New Age of Australian Energy Abundance.” In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Canavan declared that “The re-election of Trump means that we can all say what we think again” and that net zero was “dead anyway because of Trump.”
“We should get out of the Paris climate agreement, dump net zero (which is dead anyway because of Trump) and unleash a New Age of Australian Energy Abundance.”
– Matt Canavan, Nationals Senator on X (formerly Twitter)
He argued that by harnessing its abundant natural resources like coal, gas, and uranium, Australia could become “the richest country in the world” and a “manufacturing powerhouse” without relying on other nations. “We just need to dig up our coal, drill for our gas and use our uranium and we will have the cheapest energy prices in the world,” Canavan posted.
Dutton Holding Firm on Net Zero For Now
Despite the growing pressure from within Nationals ranks, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is so far resisting calls to walk back the Coalition’s net zero pledge. A spokesperson for Dutton told media sources on Thursday that “There’s no change in our position.”
This sentiment was echoed by the Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham, who emphasized the importance of maintaining the net zero objective. “I want to see Australia stay committed to net zero by 2050,” he said. “I don’t anticipate any change in those commitments.”
However, Birmingham also talked up the Coalition’s nuclear energy policy, framing it as a “hard and difficult policy position” that demonstrated its seriousness about achieving emissions reduction while protecting Australia’s industrial base. Nuclear power remains a highly controversial issue in Australia.
Albanese Doubles Down on Climate Action
For his part, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reaffirmed his government’s commitment to its climate policies, notwithstanding Trump’s intention to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement once again.
Even if you were a climate sceptic and didn’t believe any of the science and didn’t notice that there were more floods and more bushfires and more cyclones – it would still be good policy because it will produce the cheapest form of energy, not the most expensive, which we know as nuclear.
– Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Albanese argued that investing in renewable energy made sense from both an environmental and economic perspective, regardless of one’s views on climate science. However, he stopped short of committing to setting a 2035 emissions reduction target before the next federal election, insisting that the government’s focus was on meeting its 2030 goals.
Debate Set to Intensify
With Trump’s shock return to the White House still reverberating around the world, the battle lines are being redrawn in Australia’s long-running climate and energy wars. The Nationals’ latest interventions suggest that far from being settled, the net zero debate is poised to flare up once again as the major parties begin positioning themselves for the next federal election.
Much may depend on how the Biden administration responds to Trump’s efforts to unwind US climate policies in the coming months. A source close to the government said policymakers would be watching closely to see whether Trump encounters significant pushback from Congress, the courts, and state-level leaders, as he did during his first term.
For the Coalition, the challenge will be how to balance the competing demands of its moderate and conservative wings while seeking to differentiate itself from Labor and win back voters who deserted it at the 2022 election. Whether Dutton has the political capital to face down the Nationals and keep the opposition on its current policy trajectory remains to be seen.
As the political temperature rises, climate campaigners are gearing up for another protracted battle to defend Australia’s net zero goals and push for more ambitious near-term action. Groups like the Climate Council have vowed to ramp up pressure on both the government and opposition to stay the course on decarbonization, regardless of the shifting winds in Washington.
During his first presidency, Trump tried to withdraw the US from climate diplomacy, but state and local governments powered ahead. Countries and US states know the Trump playbook – and they’re determined to keep driving climate action forward.
– Amanda McKenzie, Climate Council CEO
With the battle over net zero poised to reignite, the future direction of Australia’s climate policies may once again become a defining issue in the lead-up to the next national vote. As both sides weigh their options, voters will be watching closely to see who blinks first in this high-stakes game of political chicken.
