“We won’t be departing from it (net zero).” – Peter Dutton
If you want to know why it costs so much to live, look no further than “net zero”.
Nationals like Senator Matt Canavan, Keith Pitt and Barnaby Joyce know the folly of this policy which is driving a so-called “energy transition” supported by both sides of politics.
But the only transition has been from cheap and reliable electricity to unaffordable and unreliable electricity.
Look at your power bill. Look at the warnings of blackouts coming from the Australian Energy Market Operator.
With this in mind, these renegade Nats backed a motion at their federal conference in Canberra at the weekend to ditch their support of net zero by 2050.
The motion asked for the party to “abolish its policy of net zero by 2050 and adopt a policy that will reduce Australia’s CO2 emissions in collaboration with the rest of the world”.
But Liberal Leader Peter Dutton cut them off at the pass last Friday saying:
“There’s strong support for net zero. It’s a policy that we took to the last election. I’ve recommitted to it. We won’t be departing from it.”
That’s a shame.
Net zero has to be one of the most unjust economic policies ever supported by Liberal and Labor politicians.
As Daniel Wild from the Institute for Public Affairs pointed out at Family First’s national conference recently, it’s the poor that is being hit the hardest by net zero.
“The lowest 20 per cent of families by income – 15 percent of their income is now spent on energy,” Wild said.
By contrast, people in the highest quintile by wealth spent just one percent.
“Those people in the inner cities who are telling us we need to have net zero and that we need to have more renewables on our grid, they are not the ones paying the price,” Wild said.
“It is the working men and the working women of this country on whose shoulders this renewable energy and this climate zealotry is being put upon.”
It’s a shame Peter Dutton didn’t support the renegade Nats.
It’s shame their Nationals’ colleagues voted down the resolution to ditch net zero.
Family First’s policy is for there to be an immediate pause on net zero until there is a proper economic and engineering analysis of closing coal and gas in favour of windmills and solar panels.
Nuclear power should also be on the table as it is emissions free and doesn’t require 13,000 of new transmission wires and towers.
In fairness to the Liberals they are prepared to look at nuclear but sadly won’t pause net zero polices which are vandalising the electricity grid and gouging power bills.
Lyle Shelton is National Director of the Family First Party. He started his career as a rural journalist before being elected as a member of the Toowoomba City Council and serving the Australian Christian Lobby for 10 years, half of that decade as ACL's Managing Director. He was a Director and spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage during the 2017 postal survey campaign which resulted in the legal undefinition of marriage. He also blogs here.
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