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NSW Nationals vote to dump net zero emissions by 2050 target, putting pressure on federal Coalition

NSW Nationals vote to dump net zero emissions by 2050 target, putting pressure on federal Coalition

Sky News AU15 hours ago

The NSW Nationals have made the decision to abandon support for the net zero emissions by 2050 policy.
Members of the party voted resoundingly in favour of dumping the commitment during a state conference in Coffs Harbour.
The motion passed "with applause", a party member told The Daily Telegraph.
The state Nationals committed to the policy in 2021, but members of the party didn't always see eye-to-eye on the issue.
In response to the vote, NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the net zero target would still remain Coalition policy.
'In 2016 the previous NSW Coalition Government adopted a net zero by 2050 target for NSW,' he said.
'That remains our policy, with the bipartisan NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap adopted under our government to help achieve it.
'In government we also adopted interim 2030 and 2035 targets for NSW. Subsequently in opposition we voted to support legislating those interim targets.'
Net zero has been a major talking point at a federal level, particularly over the last few months in the election run-in and in the Coalition's post-mortem following their heavy defeat.
The Liberal Party and National Party split after the election initially, following the breakdown of negotiations over policy, before forming a Coalition once more.
Their combined stance on net zero however, is still unclear, and the move from the NSW Nationals could put more pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to discuss with federal Nationals leader David Littleproud whether the Coalition will keep or withdraw support for the policy.
Mr Littleproud last week said Australia's goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is not possible without nuclear energy and other "pragmatic approaches" as he criticised Labor's "all renewables approach" and suggested it would bring a "far more harsher" experience for Australians than just energy bills going up.
'We're living with the physical consequence of our prime agricultural land being ripped up with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines, and the actual natural environment's also being destroyed in trying to achieve this,' he said.

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