The Liberal party will alienate more women and young people if it abandons net zero, several Liberal women have warned, as the party publicly fractures over its energy policy.
Weeks after Andrew Hastie threatened to quit the frontbench if the Coalition embraced net zero, three high-profile current and former senior Liberal women have warned going backwards on climate action will only hurt the party more with key demographics.
Maria Kovacic, recently promoted to Sussan Ley’s shadow ministry, said women and young people had already abandoned the party at the last election.
“[Abandoning net zero] is unpopular with women and it’s unpopular with young people and I don’t think that’s news to anyone,” she told Guardian Australia.
“It’s why people walked away from us in metropolitan areas. We can pretend that other things are afoot but that was the reality.”
The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, is reviewing the Liberals’ energy policy and commitment to net zero, after Ley put all of the party’s policies on the table for examination following the federal election.
But several conservative voices, including Hastie and the Nationals senators Matt Canavan and Michael McCormack, are not waiting for that process to play out, and have publicly called for net zero to be scrapped.
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The Liberal senator Jonno Duniam also warned that there would be a “mass exodus” from the Coalition frontbench if the party agreed to a net zero policy “by any cost”.
Jane Hume, who was relegated from the frontbench by Ley, has become one of the most outspoken advocates for net zero, and the push to bring more women into the party.
The former shadow finance minister said the party should not be focusing on the seats it now holds, but the 33 seats it needs to win back.
“The electorate has told us time and time again at elections, and even in the most recent Newspoll, that they care about climate and want to see action,” she said.
“We need to actually show those Australians that not only have we heard the message, but that we agree with it.”
The former cabinet minister Karen Andrews also called on the party to take climate action seriously, if it wants more women to join its ranks.
“If they [Liberal party] want to regain government, they are going to have to take seriously the issues that women and young people, but particularly women, are concerned about,” she said.
“One of those issues that is front of mind for so many women is climate change.”
Andrews campaigned for her successor, Leon Rebello, during the election, and said climate was a key issue women raised with her, in a seat that also saw a challenge from a teal independent.
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“I definitely heard lots of things about [climate], it’s not a silent issue, and it’s not something that can be ignored.”
Polling by YouGov for the thinktank Blueprint Institute found 52% of former Coalition voters “would only consider a party ready to govern if they have credible policies to address climate change and its impacts”, as part of an online survey of more than 5,000 Australians on attitudes towards the Coalition.
There are two separate reviews under way for the Liberal party; an election review as well as a broader review of the party, conducted by Senator James McGrath.
The party is grappling with how to attract more women into its branches, and preselect them for elections, with some in New South Wales working towards introducing quotas.
While discussion on quotas has died down in recent months, following a surge of vocal support from high-profile Liberals, including Kovacic, immediately after the election, Liberal sources told Guardian Australia work is ongoing in NSW behind the scenes.
They said quota advocates were working to “temperature check” branch members and the state council on potential quotas.
One Liberal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said quotas were still on the table, but was concerned about the discussion around net zero overshadowing momentum to bring more women into the party.
Another Liberal, who also requested to remain anonymous, said the feeling among council members was more positive than in previous years.
A spokesperson for Ley told Guardian Australia, said “now more than ever, the federal Liberal party must respect, reflect, and represent modern Australia.”
They said the party’s working group on energy and emissions reduction policy is in the process of forming a position, and the Coalition would not “reduce emissions at any cost”.
