Australia's youngest senator, 21, launches a furious attack on Pauline Hanson: 'All I can say is, are you kidding?'
Ms Hanson, 71, introduced a motion on Monday to scrap Australia's net zero emissions target, claiming the goal continues to 'destroy jobs and the Australian economy.'
'Power bills are out of control. Manufacturing is being wiped out. And ordinary Australians are paying the price, while out-of-touch politicians and inner-city idealists push fantasy policies they'll never have to live under,' Ms Hanson said.
'We are being led by fools. Shame on every politician who continues to push this madness. I will not stand by while Australia is driven into the ground.'
But before the vote, new Labor senator for South Australia Charlotte Walker, 21, slammed Ms Hanson — and suggested that Ms Hanson struggled to grasp the concept.
'All I can say is, are you kidding?' she said.
'The motion put forward on net zero indicates a severe lack of knowledge and a complete disregard for the future of our generation, the future of our country.
'Without a net zero target, there will be no Australian farmers, businesses or industries to support us.
'Net zero is waking up to a reality that Senator Hanson has not been able to grasp. In fact, Senator Hanson seems to be hellbent on exacerbating all of the consequences of climate change.'
In the end the motion from Ms Hanson ultimately failed with only he four One Nation senators, United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet and Coalition senators Matt Canavan and Alex Antic voting in its favour.
'Labor, the Greens and the crossbench voted it down. And the Liberals? Cowards. They had the notice. They had the time. And they still ran for the exits. Not one of them had the guts to stand and be counted,' Ms Hanson said.
Meanwhile, Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce on Monday launched a seperate bid to repeal the net-zero emissions by 2050 reduction target.
But his private member's bill is guaranteed to fail, because it lacks the support of the government which has a majority in the House of Representatives.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley maintains the coalition will wait until after a review of its disastrous May election loss before making formal policy decisions.
Despite a growing number of Liberal politicians speaking out against stronger climate change action, she doubled down on waiting for the review.
'We're going to bring all of those views together ... to flesh out the different perspectives, the expert advice and, of course, focus on this government's miserable failure when it comes to energy policy,' she told Sky News.
Asked about the political impact of dumping the climate target, Ms Ley said she would not foreshadow the review's outcome.
Many Liberal moderates want the net-zero target retained so the party is seen to be taking climate action seriously.
But Mr Joyce said there was no reason why abandoning the targets should be off the table.
'This is not about leadership. This is not about trying to create some sort of discordant note,' he told reporters ahead of the bill's introduction.
'There's not anything in this bill that the coalition didn't have the same position we voted for.'
Mr Joyce has the backing of his former leadership rival Michael McCormack.
The two ex-deputy prime ministers are critical of Nationals leader David Littleproud's handling of the aftermath of the election defeat.
The coalition reunited at the end of May following a messy week-long split driven by divisions which included energy policy.
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
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Anthony Albanese slams Israel over Gaza starvation claims
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