WA Liberal Party State Council supports call to abandon net zero, reduce Welcome to Country ceremonies
Delegates at the WA Liberal State Council also approved a motion to get rid of the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islands flags behind the prime minister at press conferences and cut back on Welcome to Country ceremonies.
It is understood both motions were carried with an overwhelming show of support when they were read out and without needing to go to a ballot.
The behind-closed-doors meeting was held at a hotel in federal MP Andrew Hastie's electorate of Canning, one of only four seats the Liberals now hold in WA.
Labor increased its dominance in the state after the May federal election, winning 11 seats, while independent Kate Chaney retained Curtin.
As Ms Ley and the party weigh up how to claw back those and other seats around the country, she has ordered a review of the Liberals' energy and emissions reduction policy.
The WA Liberal Party's move has thrown open the debate on net zero within the Coalition, with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce proposing a private members bill to dump the policy.
Grassroots Liberals have been making their views known to the parliamentary party, with the South Australian Liberal State Council already abandoning net zero and the Queensland Liberal National Party also due to decide on the matter.
The motion at the WA State Council on Saturday was put forward by the Canning Division, in Mr Hastie's seat.
It said the WA division of the Liberal Party called on the federal Liberal opposition to abandon the target of net zero by 2050 and to reform "the legislated net zero incentives, subsidies and penalties".
It said it wanted the party to "affirm (a) commitment to clean energy, but not at the expense of Australia's economic and national security".
Further, the motion called on the federal opposition to "harness Australia's natural abundance of coal, gas and uranium in the generation of stable, reliable and affordable power for all Australians".
The motion said its positions should be adopted in light of the fact the three countries responsible for more than 50 per cent of the world's carbon emissions — China, the United States and India — "have no intention of meeting Net Zero by 2050".
It also said "attempts to decarbonise Australia are destabilising our energy grid, forcing up power prices and damaging our national and economic security".
The WA Liberal Party's Policy Committee put up the motion on the flags and Welcome to Country ceremonies.
It called on the federal opposition to adopt a policy where the only other flags, apart from the Australian national flag, to receive Commonwealth recognition should be those of others states and territories or of government institutions, such as the military.
The motion also called on the opposition to remove official status for Welcome to Country ceremonies.
"While they may originally have been well-intentioned, they are now often divisive and tokenistic and do little to improve the lives of our most disadvantaged Australians," it said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

ABC News
6 minutes ago
- ABC News
QTU President Cresta Richardson says teachers are tired and frustrated
More than 50,000 Queensland school teachers will strike for the first time in 16 years today, after negotiations with the government over pay and conditions broke down last week.


SBS Australia
36 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Albanese and Macron speak about crisis in Gaza, agree to meet at UN summit
In July, France announced its intention to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. More than 140 of the 193 UN member states already recognise the State of Palestine. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has revealed Australia is working with other countries on the statehood issue. The leaders of Australia and France have made plans to meet at a United Nations gathering, where Palestinian statehood and the crisis in Gaza will be major issues. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Emmanuel Macron spoke overnight on Tuesday, almost two weeks after France announced its intention to recognise a Palestinian state at the general assembly meeting in New York in September. France was followed by Canada and the United Kingdom , which also stated their intentions, with conditions including the exit of Hamas from the Gaza Strip, the reform of the Palestinian Authority and demilitarisation of the state. "The leaders spoke about the crisis in Gaza and their ongoing commitment to getting aid to civilians," according to a readout of the call between Albanese and Macron. "Both leaders discussed their longstanding support for a two-state solution." "The leaders agreed to stay in close touch and meet again at the United Nations General Assembly in September." More than 140 of the 193 UN member states already recognise the State of Palestine, including European Union members Spain and Ireland. Albanese has said recognition by Australia is a matter of "when, not if", but has been hesitant to set a timeline. He's previously stated any UN resolution would need to guarantee the designated terror group Hamas played no role in the future nation. "We understand the urgency, we also understand the importance of having impact, we are obviously discussing and co-ordinating these issues with many countries," she said on Tuesday. "Everybody understands that there is a risk that there will be no Palestine left to recognise unless the international community work together towards two states. "We want to ensure work with others to ensure that Hamas has no role in a future Palestinian state, and we do have a unique opportunity at this time with the international community to isolate Hamas." Albanese spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday morning, when he reiterated Australia's commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East that would allow a Palestinian state and Israel to peacefully co-exist. Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' October 7 attack in 2023, in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government. More than 60,430 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israel has denied the population in Gaza is facing, or succumbing to, starvation. Albanese also stressed to Abbas the need for the immediate delivery of aid to Gaza, a permanent ceasefire and the release of all Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. Abbas thanked Australia for its humanitarian support for Gaza and agreed to meet him on the sidelines of the UN meeting starting on 9 September. In late July, Albanese also had a call with his UK counterpart Keir Starmer about support for a two-state solution. France was the first of the G7 group of major industrialised nations to announce it would recognise a Palestinian state. The G7 includes France, the United States, the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan.


SBS Australia
36 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Australia has lifted its cap on international students. Here's by how much
The addition of 25,000 student enrolments for next year has been welcomed by the university sector, despite questions about how to unlock the placements. On Monday, Education Minister Jason Clare announced a National Planning Level of 295,000 international student places for 2026 to manage growth in a "sustainable" way. The government will issue a new direction for the changes, replacing Ministerial Direction 111, which acted as a de facto cap and enabled it to reduce numbers by slowing visa processing and assigning quotas for international students to each university. Clare announced two caveats for universities to gain additional placements: student housing and a focus on Southeast Asian neighbours. Education Minister Jason Clare has increased international university numbers by 9 per cent for 2026. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), welcomed the 9 per cent increase but highlighted that the levels were still lower than during the pandemic. "Any increase in the enrolment figures from the government is very welcome ... however, it's patchy," he told SBS News. "Our English language colleges are collapsing as we speak because of the combination of high student visa fees and just a concern that the future for Australian international education is not fantastic." Regional Universities Australia CEO Alec Webb reacted to the news with "positivity", praising the fact that "no university will go backwards in 2026". "It definitely signals that Australia is still open for business, and Australia should still be a destination that is being considered for prospective international students," Webb told SBS News. New housing critical to extra placements Universities will have to demonstrate stronger engagement with Southeast Asia and progress in providing secure student accommodation for both local and international students in order to apply for an increase in their allocation. While Honeywood encouraged the pivot to closer neighbours such as Thailand and Indonesia — "great student source markets" — he expressed concern about housing backlogs. "It's taking purpose-built student accommodation companies anything up to three years to get a project approved and commence construction. So it's a long game," he said. It's a concern also expressed by Webb, who hopes universities will get clarity around housing expectations soon, as well as more information about how the 25,000 placements will be split between metro and regional universities. "Obviously, that can't be a new site build, there is an incredible amount of delay and lag associated with not only obtaining the planning permissions, but also with the actual construction itself," he said. "So we're very keen to work with the department and the government to better understand what the expectation is in regards to securing the supply of housing." SBS News has contacted Clare for comment. The focus on housing reflects the intersection between education and migration, a point exacerbated during the federal election campaign. Australia 'the least worst' option The sector has repeatedly raised concerns that the ongoing debate about international student numbers is deterring prospective students from choosing Australia, delivering a blow to the $34 billion a year industry. However, Honeywood says Australia can capitalise on recent disruption to the global market caused by Donald Trump's presidency in the United States. "Australia's been very fortunate that other countries we compete against, particularly Canada, Donald Trump's USA now and the UK are also winding back on international student recruitment," he said. "And therefore when students are thinking which country to go and study at, they're obviously seeing that Australia is in many cases the least worst when it comes to their ability to access education." From tariffs to university education, experts argue that President Donald Trumphas created global uncertainty that Australia can capitalise off. Source: AP / Evan Vucci This week's announcement outlines capacity for 2026 ahead of new legislation, subject to passing, which will establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. The body will oversee student caps and university allocations, balancing which courses and skills are needed and hopes to provide stability to the sector from 2027.