Articles by The Age's View

Technology

Coalition tried to cut its climate losses – the result is predictably gory

In her book Plots and Prayers, Niki Savva writes about a Coalition cabinet meeting that took place just before Malcolm Turnbull’s overthrow in 2018. When discussion turned to the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) – Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg’s bid to cut emissions while keeping energy affordable – Christopher Pyne argued: “We can keep dragging our bloodied stump across the political firmament, leaving a trail of gore behind us, or we can cut our losses and move on [from the NEG].” The Liberal Party’s choice of Scott Morrison to replace Turnbull and his subsequent election victory might have been seen as vindication for Pyne’s view, except that the bleeding and the losses continued. Voters in urban Liberal heartlands, unconvinced by Morrison’s approach to climate change, turned to teal independents, turfing out Frydenberg and other moderate Liberals. That Morrison and his deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, had eventually committed the Coalition to a policy of net zero emissions by 2050 was offset by their defeat in the 2022 election.