Last weekend the Liberal National Party held its annual convention in Brisbane. Over 800 members of our party came to discuss the major policy issues facing Australia.
At previous meetings, our Central Queensland team had pushed for the construction of the Rookwood weir, the Adani mine and the Rockhampton Ring Road. All projects that have become reality or are being built in Central Queensland.
At this year’s convention we raised the costs of the Federal Government’s pursuit of its net zero emissions goal by 2050. I had been pushing for our convention to have this debate for three years and it was cathartic for members to finally have their say.
When Australia adopted net zero emissions, we were promised cheaper energy prices, more jobs in critical minerals and hydrogen, and we were warned that if we did not sign up the rest of the world would punish us for not doing so.
None of these things have come to fruition. Since net zero electricity prices are up 31 per cent, gas prices up 39 per cent, hydrogen investments have turned out to be white elephants, our critical mineral industries are asking for billions in taxpayer assistance to stay alive and the rest of the world is increasing its emissions not reducing them.
The net zero experience shows two things.
One, politicians are very good at making promises.
For example, the Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, said that “the global shift to net zero emissions will mean lower energy prices as we replace expensive coal and gas with cheaper renewables.” The opposite has happened.
The Prime Minister said that, “What we know is that nickel will be a critical mineral going forward. It’s critical for batteries and for other sources as the global economy shifts, as we are seeing, to clean energy.” Since he said this, Australia has lost its nickel industry and 10,000 jobs along with it.
Two, the net zero plan can only be achieved by the construction of a socialist state that dictates everything we do, from the power we use, the cars we drive and the food we eat. People are not choosing lower emissions themselves. Electric car sales have stagnated, people continue to buy consumer goods (including solar panels) made by coal in China, travel to Europe by plane is at record levels and demand for a steak and chips at the pub is not slowing down.
So, to reach net zero the government will have to direct almost all Australian economic and social activity. That is socialism in a nutshell. And, Stalin only tried to have 5-year economic plans. The net zero planners think they can map out things for 25 years.
These grand government schemes never work, and we are seeing that play out in the higher cost of living and fewer manufacturing jobs in Australia.
After hearing over an hour of debate on net zero at our conference, 99 per cent of LNP members voted to scrap net zero. The debate unified our party in a way that I had not seen for years.
The net zero issue has been a challenging one for our party, but it should not be surprising that the best way to tackle a tough issue is to talk it out. This can mean uncomfortable conversations, but it is the best way to keep people together in a family, a sporting team or a business.
It holds for political parties too. The LNP has never debated net zero emissions in our Joint Parliamentary Party Room meeting in Canberra. Given the strong view of our members, and the concerning economic challenges facing Australia, we should have the debate sooner rather than later.
