Topics: Net zero policy, Coalition future

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CHRIS KENNY: Let’s get a Liberal's perspective now and go back down to Canberra and catch up with Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury, Dave Sharma. Good to talk to you, Dave. The Nationals have laid down the gauntlet here, haven't they? They've laid down, actually the policy formula. Don't the Liberals just need to jump on board and, and adopt that policy rather than continuing with this endless review?

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DAVE SHARMA: No. The Liberals need to devise and agree on our own policy, and then we will need to set it with the Nationals. I respect the right of the Nationals to come up with their own policy, but I also expect the right of my colleagues at the Liberal Party room to examine, assess, and develop our own policy and then agree that that's ultimately what our party is about.

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CHRIS KENNY: Well, the Nationals have, uh, had a look at their policies. They've come up with a very viable alternative, and it's certainly one that I would support. I've been on these issues for decades, as you know. Why are the Liberals still faffing around then? Why can't you efficiently come up with this? You've been dealing in this policy area for decades. Surely, you can come to a landing soon.

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DAVE SHARMA: Oh, I think we can, Chris, but I don't think this was ever intended to be a rush process. And just because the Nationals have reached their decision and put out an announcement on a Sunday afternoon doesn't mean we need to conclude our own process within the next 24 hours. I mean, Dan Tehan's leading this process. I expect it to wrap up in the next four to six weeks. It's important because we've got members who represent rural and regional constituencies, but also urban constituencies and across states and demographics. And we want to make sure that the policy we come up with is economically literate and responsible, but can also be sold politically.

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CHRIS KENNY: But here's the thing, right? You say that sort of thing, and so many commentators make that sort of point because they think the city voters like the idea of renewables and emissions reductions more. They're more... Uh, uh, the polling says that they're more in tune with this stuff. Uh, it bears no... It's all politics. It's all trying to second guess the voter's reaction. Don't you actually have to do what this nation and this economy needs and then argue the case and convince people that that is the right option?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, look, we need to do both things, Chris. I mean, no elected representative is going to adopt a policy without having a sense of what their constituents and the voters feel about something, right? That's just politics is a two-way street. It's elected representatives channeling the views of their constituents, but also putting forward what they believe is in the national interest of the country. That's what we're doing as Liberals. We do need an energy policy that's in Australia's national interest. That means prices need to be lower, industry can't be hampered, we need more abundant gas. But we also want to bring down emissions over time. Now I'll look closely at the Nationals' policy and what they're offering, and I'm sure all my colleagues will as well. But you know, the Nationals' policy is not take it or leave it offer to the Liberal Party. They've got their own policy process. We've got our own. And when those two are concluded, then we'll have a conversation about where the coalition position is.

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CHRIS KENNY: When you talk about these electoral dynamics though, you know very well that there are people who voted for Tehan's candidates and Green's candidates and Labor candidates in some of the seats where you need to contest the vote. They are told that Australia meeting net zero by 2050 will make a material difference to the planet. They are told that they'll have fewer natural disasters if they'll only concentrate on these emissions reductions programs in Australia. They are told that this stuff is cheaper, it's the cheapest form of energy. You know that all of this stuff is absolute tosh and you need to counter it, right? Because they are... if that's what's driving their vote, they need to be educated. And if the coalition is not going to educate them as to the facts, who is?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, we need to be honest with the Australian public, Chris, and that is that, net zero is not going well under Labor's plans that our energy prices are higher, despite being promised that renewable sources of power would be lower, that our industry is suffering because gas prices are too high and we're not reserving enough domestically. And yet we also need to be honest that the world is not meeting its targets and that whether Australia meets its targets or not is not going to make a material difference to it. So I think we need a policy that's driven by fundamentals, you know, cost and affordability and reliability, that's technology agnostic, but there is also a preference for people's emissions to come... to bring down emissions over time if it's not cost prohibitive or if it doesn't impose any cost disadvantage. And I think that's the sort of policy where we want to be adopting as Liberals.

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CHRIS KENNY: And that's the sort of policy that the Nationals have outlined, isn't it? I mean, they're saying, "Let's reduce emissions. Eventually you could have all your fixed energy costs produced by nuclear technology, for instance, but let's not kill our economy trying to do net zero by 2050."

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DAVE SHARMA: Yeah, look, I think there's some, some good points in the Nationals' policy approach. I mean, I haven't studied it closely. All I've read is the two-page press release. But I think, we will be interested in teasing out all of these things with the Nationals. I mean, they want to reinstitute the emissions reduction fund, for instance. What would that look like? How much would that cost? These are all the sorts of conversations we need to have with our Nationals colleagues.

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CHRIS KENNY: Just briefly before I let you go, record low primary vote in the Newspoll today. That's tough news for the coalition. How much pressure is Sussan Ley under?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, I thought you were going to ask me about the record high inflation that came out for the last quarter last week, Chris, 2.3%.

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CHRIS KENNY: We did do that last week. We did do that last week. And this is my point, right? We need a strong opposition to hold a bad government to account. So is Sussan Ley under pressure as leader?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, we're all under pressure. Let's be honest. It's a bad poll result. Uh, thankfully the voters aren't going to the polls anytime soon. But it's in part because, look, we are spending a lot of time talking about ourselves. I mean, my entire conversation with you up until now has been about an internal policy position rather than critiquing Labor's policy position. That's a problem that the electorate wants an opposition that holds the government to account, not that tries to hold itself to account the whole time.

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CHRIS KENNY: Exactly, which is why you need to get that, uh, net zero policy setting and get cracking. Good of you to join us again, Dave. I really appreciate it. Dave Sharma, Liberal Senator for New South Wales, joining us live from Canberra.

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[ENDS]

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