Nationals senator labels opposition ‘irrelevant’ as messy net zero fight continues

Nationals senator Matt Canavan has declared that he does not care if the net zero debate roiling the Coalition damages its image because the opposition is politically “irrelevant” after the election.

Deep divides within the Coalition over whether the opposition should ditch its policy supporting net zero emissions by 2050 have been on show this week, after former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce introduced a bill to scrap the target.

Canavan said on Tuesday that he was unconcerned if the split appeared messy. “We’re irrelevant right now, who cares what it looks right now. We have got to get the results. That’s what’s important. It doesn’t have to be neat or tidy or pretty, it has to be effective,” Canavan told presenter Ben Fordham on 2GB.

“I’m sick and tired of this place … we prioritise tidiness and neatness over effectiveness, and that’s why we’re in the mess … as a country.”

The maverick senator’s refusal to internally discuss the Coalition’s stance on net zero will further test Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she attempts to recapture the political centre that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed at his election victory in May.

As the Coalition debates its policy on net zero, the UN’s chief climate diplomat, Simon Stiell, urged the government not only to adopt an ambitious emissions reduction target for 2035, but also to cut fossil fuel exports.

“Addressing your own domestic emissions is part of it, but exporting carbon emissions also needs to be addressed,” said Stiell, who will meet Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Tuesday.

“And there we need to look at that global picture in terms of not just the supply of fossil fuels, but it is cutting our dependency, demand for fossil fuels,” Stiell told ABC radio.