Coalition Climate War: Liberal Review Pushes Coal and Nuclear as Moderate Senator Threatens to Quit Over Net Zero

The Coalition’s internal conflict over climate policy is reaching a fever pitch this week, with the Liberal Party set to meet on Wednesday to finalize its stance on net zero emissions.

The policy review, led by Energy and Emissions Reduction spokesman Dan Tehan, is pushing a vision of “energy abundance” relying heavily on increased coal-fired generation and the introduction of nuclear power.

Tehan suggests squeezing more life out of ageing coal fire power stations—many of which announced or brought forward closure dates while the Coalition was in government—is essential to lowering spiraling power prices.

The policy proposal immediately intensified the division between the party’s conservative and moderate wings.

Conservative Liberal MPs argue that scrapping the net zero commitment will bring prices down, but moderate members strongly disagree. Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg warned that abandoning the policy would be a disaster:

Andrew Bragg, Liberal Senator for New South Wales .

“Net zero if done properly could reduce power prices and should reduce power prices over time,” Senator Bragg told the ABC.

Bragg has issued a powerful ultimatum, threatening to quit the front bench if the Liberal Party formally walks away from the Paris Agreement.

Threading the Needle with the Nationals
The Liberal Party’s internal agreement is only the first step. The next challenge is striking a deal with the National Party, which has already voted to scrap the net zero target entirely.

Nationals leader David Littleproud believes a path forward exists, but Tehan conceded the negotiations will be like “threading a needle.” Labor Senator Jenny McCallister lamented the ongoing turmoil, arguing Australians have “already paid the price for the unbelievable division within the coalition over this.”

Despite the public infighting, the latest Resolve Political Monitor polling shows the Coalition has seen a tightening in the margin against Labor (now 53-47 two-party-preferred), suggesting the conflict has yet to hurt them significantly with the voting public.