Australia politics live: Liberal frontbencher admits Coalition ‘down in the dumps’ but backs Ley; Littleproud rejects ‘puerile’ net zero argument

Liberal leader Sussan Ley faces fundamental fracture on Coalition climate policy. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe question every Coalition member is facing this morning is whether the Nationals’ decision to scrap net zero will allow the two parties to stay together.Tehan – who has both staunch net zero backers and critics in his own party – says he’s “very confident” he can reach a position with the Nationals on energy policy.I never started this process seeking to fail. I want to succeed, and that means we’ve all got to work together. And the way we have been constructively working together, obviously, there’s some noise here and noise there, but the way we have been working constructively together, I’m very confident that we’ll be able to reach a position which means we can all continue to work together in the best interests of the nation.We’ve got to get it right in understanding: OK, what is it that we need to do to make affordable energy our number one priority, but at the same time be doing our bit when it comes to reducing emissions? And we’re working through that methodically. We’ve been doing it not only as a Liberal party but also jointly with the National party – very constructively, I might add – and we’ll continue to do that. Continue reading...