Liberal Andrew McLachlan on why he’ll still promote net zero

The federal Liberals and their National partners have scrapped their commitment to net zero emissions. While many Liberal conservatives are celebrating, it has left other Liberals unhappy and in a tough position with voters.

One strong critic of the policy change is South Australian Senator Andrew McLachlan, who prides himself on independent thinking and deeply-held conservationist views.

McLachlan has been in the Senate since 2020, but previously served as president of the Legislative Council in South Australia. He joins us to discuss the Coalition’s new climate policy and why he’ll continue to support a net zero emissions target.

On Liberals dumping the target, McLachlan is defiant:

I don’t agree with the policy and I have the advantage of being in the Liberal Party, which allows a backbencher to speak their mind. I don’t believe you can continue to advocate publicly for a policy position and then fall silent, particularly one of this importance.

I come to it from two perspectives. One, as a conservative, I believe we must be committed to nature. In saying that, I mean leaving the world in a much better place than we inherited it. And secondly, as a former financial services executive, who lived every day working to targets, I know the importance of targets […] driving change.

As for how the Coalition can sell its new policy to voters, McLachlan says “at this point in time, I’m dubious”.

Modern Australia wants a strong commitment to not only restoring nature but protecting it. And that includes reducing emissions. This policy seems to be one – and forgive me, it is relatively new, and I’m still unpacking the consequences if it was ever implemented – but it seems to me it’s a policy that is carefree with emissions. And I don’t agree with that.

Despite his outspoken environmentalism, McLachlan insists he’s in the right party – and that it’s some of his colleagues who are out of step:

I think I’m in the right kennel. I question whether they’re in the right kennel. On net zero, I have argued for our policy suite not to change, which has served us well under Abbott, Morrison and Dutton. So I think the question should be asked of them, why have they changed? Why are they running away from modern Australia?

[…] I see no reason not to advocate for the natural world. I see no reason why I shouldn’t continue to embrace a conservatism which is based on compassion and kindness. And I’ll continue to do so as long as I’m in public life and long after.

About half a year since the last federal election, McLachlan outlines where he thinks the Liberal Party should be headed.

We have to listen to the electorate […] I’m not sure we’ve listened to them on the environment, for example, and I think we may be walking in the opposite direction to modern Australia. I think they want a party that will not only keep them safe and run the economy well, but they also want a commitment from the conservative side of politics, or centre right politics, of compassion and kindness.

I think you just can’t, as we did in the last election, on a wish and a prayer, [hope] that the government of the day was going to fail. I think we should have gone into the last election with more aspiration and set out clearly what we wanted modern Australia to look like and how we were going to get there.

On the next big policy fight within the Coalition – immigration – McLachlan says he approaches the issue from a “positive perspective”:

It’s underpinned our economy and our prosperity. And coming from a very multicultural community in South Australia, it’s fantastic to have migrants enrich our community.

So I don’t come from it from a negative perspective. I come from it, I suppose, setting the levels, from a purely economic perspective. We don’t want to invite people to our country and have them live in poverty. We want them to be able to come here and live meaningful and happy lives.