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.
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Ms Owen pointed out that the average time between commencing construction on a unit block and completing it had blown out from around six quarters (about 18 months) a decade ago to more than nine quarters (about 22 months). It is a similar story for townhouses and detached homes, where construction times have increased from around 10 and seven months respectively to 13 and more than 10 months. Ms Owen's observations come as Housing Minister Clare O'Neil hosts meetings with industry groups to thrash out how to achieve the federal government's target of 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029. Housing Industry Association chief executive Simon Croft, who was at Ms O'Neil's roundtable meeting on Tuesday, said it was "really important to have a target — an ambitious target" but "the numbers are saying [1.2 million homes in five years] will be a very significant ask". Last month, accidentally leaked advice published by ABC News showed Treasury had been warning the government its signature housing policy target would "not be met". Mr Crost said Australia needed many more skilled tradespeople — including carpenters, electricians and plumbers — if it was to have any realistic hope of meeting the 1.2 million new homes goal. The Albanese government's plan includes buildings funded by the private sector — developers, investors and owner-occupiers — plus a smaller number of government-funded homes. Cotality's analysis showed the closest Australia has come to a similar rate of building was at the end of 2019, when 1.04 million homes were built in five years. However, Ms Owen pointed out that interest rates were much lower over that period and investor activity was higher, especially among overseas buyers. "It's too hard to build a home in Australia," Ms O'Neil said in a statement. Ms Owen analysed national data about properties being built and applications for new homes. She found completion rates were hovering around 890,000 over five years, well below the mid-2029 target of 1.2 million. Ms Owen says the number of people looking to build would rise further if the Reserve Bank of Australia dropped interest rates, as expected this month. However, she noted the building industry would be hard-pressed to respond to extra work. Mr Croft said the round table with the housing minister was focused on the skills shortfall, as well as ways to respond to demand, including changing construction codes and other regulations, and "modern methods" to build faster, such as pre-fabrication and 3D printing. Master Builders Australia's (MBA) chief executive Denita Wawn, who missed the minister's round table but was briefed by a representative, noted the emphasis on supply and said the MBA was also focused on easing infrastructure issues that could hold up housing developments, like a lack of sewerage or roads. "You've got horrific stories of effectively stranded suburbs," she said. Ms Owen doubted supply issues could be fixed in time to meet the mid-2029 target. "It's clear that under-construction is where you have the biggest hold-up," she argued. "Approvals will start to rise when interest rates come down. Mr Croft disagreed, saying inflation in the building sector had eased since the pandemic, when materials such as timber soared in cost. Ms Owen was also concerned that pushing for 1.2 million homes could lead to poorer-quality builds, which she said was a problem during the last development boom up to 2019, with many apartments in particular plagued by serious defects, from flammable cladding to leaks and even structural flaws. "More dwelling completions are not necessarily a mark of success for Australia's housing market," she argued. Instead, Ms Owen called for more focus on easing demand, including dropping tax concessions for property investors. This week, the union movement reignited the debate around negative gearing, with ACTU secretary Sally McManus calling for a one-property limit. "The supply side is fraught," Ms Owen says. Ms Owen believes discussion around reducing demand is increasing after "politically a lot of hesitancy" but that there needs to be more focus on this side of the equation. "I think it's fair to say that wealthy lobby groups like developers have an interest in making the supply side more feasible," she added. Ms Wawn slammed calls to reduce housing demand and described the ACTU's latest push over negative gearing as "disappointing". "It's a totally wrong call about resolving the housing crisis," she said. A federal government spokesperson said the Commonwealth was "realistic about the factors beyond [its] control" when it came to the 1.2 million housing target, such as the current level of interest rates. "The homes target is not just ambitious — it's essential," the spokesperson said. "This crisis wasn't created overnight, and it won't be fixed overnight — but real progress is being made right across the country."
