‘Tax against meteorites’: Wild climate claim

Net zero is “like having a tax against meteorites”, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has said in a rant in which he did not rule out a future Coalition split over climate.

Mr Joyce, a former deputy prime minister, was banished to the opposition back bench earlier this year after back-channelling hard to keep the Liberal and National parties from permanently breaking up.

The demotion was broadly seen as a check on his power as Nationals leader David Littleproud and Sussan Ley try to build consensus on touchy topics, including climate policy.

But booting Mr Joyce from the front bench has only unleashed him as he is no longer required to toe the shadow ministry line, and he has since rallied a band of rebellious Coalition MPs in a push to abandon Australia’s ambitions of a net zero emissions by 2050.

With pressure mounting on the Opposition Leader to come up with energy and climate policies, Mr Joyce was asked on Sunday if he would back another Coalition split should Ms Ley ultimately cave to moderates and stick with a green future.

“Well, that’s not my role – others can decide what they wish to do then,” Mr Joyce told Sky News.

“I think it’s better if we just convince everybody, not just the Liberal Party, but I think Australians in general are over net zero.

“When I walk down the street, I don’t find people running up to me pleading that we stay in net zero.

“I certainly meet lots and lots of people who want to get out, and they’re getting more and more loud all the time.”

Polling has consistently shown a mixed bag when it comes to pursuing net zero.

While Australians mostly back it as part of broader efforts to counter climate change, they do not support it at any cost and are most concerned about reliability.

Though, Labor did take its renewables-driven energy plan to the federal election in May and won a historic landslide.

Energy experts also overwhelmingly agree that solar and wind are Australia’s cheapest energy options.

Mr Joyce remains unconvinced, arguing that his constituents in the rural NSW electorate of New England are weathering higher power bills due to renewables, and that energy costs will only rise as coal is phased out.

“I hope logic wins this debate,” he said.

“It’s like having a tax against meteorites and saying, ‘Look, we’re going to stop meteorites. We’re going to have a tax.’

“And you go, ‘Hang on.’ And every time you argue against it they say, ‘Well, don’t you believe in meteorites? Don’t you understand the damage meteorites will make to kids? Do you understand what meteorites will do to the earth?’

“No, I understand all that, I just don’t believe your tax is going to stop them and this is the same thing – this net zero is not going to change the weather. It just can’t.”

The comments came after a week dominated by climate politics.

The Albanese government on Thursday unveiled Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction target, settling on a range from 62-70 per cent.

It has pleased few and angered many, with some of the target’s fiercest critics saying it will do little to prevent the catastrophic warnings of the climate risk assessment released just days earlier.