Liberal Senator Andrew McLachlan has described his federal colleagues as “outliers” who “don’t aspire to a better world”, in an interview with the National Account.
The rogue senator, who represents South Australia, said the Liberal Party’s decision to ditch a Net Zero by 2050 goal had left “the investment community … reeling in horror” and signified to voters that “you’re not going to aspire to a better world”.
“You're basically saying, ‘Well, we're just going to keep on polluting’. And I don't accept that,” McLachlan said.
He said dumping a firm target to reduce pollution was a “fool’s journey”.
😬 Hard to sell
The Liberals joined their junior Coalition partner, the Nationals, in dumping Net Zero, and McLachlan conceded that it would be “extremely difficult to sell the current position we're putting forward” to younger Australians.
“[South Australians] want a commitment that you're not going on a path of reckless industrialisation, which is going to leave us with a degraded planet,” the senator said.
“You have to have a target, because everyone - from corporate executives to a small business owner - needs to know where we're going. And you're not going to get there if you don't have a target.
“Without the target, you do not have a focused mind and a focused community on seeking out the opportunities to achieve it. I mean, to not have a target means you've given up.”
🏃 Track record
McLachlan said he was “surprised” and “bemused” the federal Liberals had revisited the Net Zero debate.
“[Former PMs] Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott, entered [the] Paris [Agreement]. Scott Morrison gave the target in response to Paris. Peter Dutton kept to the target, and we had Angus Taylor managing us towards the target. I see no reason to walk away from our previous commitments and excellent record in this regard, I think it's a fool's journey.”
🧮 The outlier
He pointed out that “every Liberal or Liberal-National state opposition or government supports Net Zero. So my personal position is consistent with every state opposition or government. The only outlier is the federal team”.
He said he was “not sure how that works if we ever win government when every state or territory is in a different place”.
🤷 Agnostic
McLachlan said he was “agnostic” on nuclear power and was seeking more information.
Regarding suggestions his federal Liberal colleagues may back government funding for coal plants, he said: “I think any involvement with coal is a regressive step”.
Thumbnail: AAP, Lukas Coch