Mercury (Hobart)

SCOMO GETS THE GLAS-GO FROM NATIONALS

- JADE GAILBERGER AND TOM MINEAR

THE Nationals have finally thrown their support behind Scott Morrison’s plan for Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

After a week of frenzied negotiatio­ns, Nationals MPs backed the emissions reduction commitment on Sunday night – subject to a series of safeguards the Prime Minister agreed to implement to protect and grow jobs in regional Australia.

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said he trusted Mr Morrison “impeccably” to deliver on the demands of his colleagues, which will now be considered by the cabinet before being publicly unveiled ahead of next week’s Glasgow climate change summit.

But the Deputy Prime Minister refused to be drawn on whether he personally supported the 2050 target, saying he had vowed to follow the view of the Nationals party room.

“That is the position we are now all following,” Mr Joyce said.

“The easy decision would be to say ‘no’ and join other people in screaming and yelling from the sidelines, having no influence on where the decision went.”

Mr Morrison welcomed the decision on a “challengin­g issue for the Nationals”.

“Ensuring regional Australia continues to grow and prosper is a core objective of any Coalition government, and this will be central to our plan,” he said.

Mr Joyce said he understood the “suspicions” of some regional Australian­s, but he declared the Nationals could not respond to their concerns from “outside the tent”.

He refused to speculate about whether his deal with Mr Morrison included an extra spot in cabinet for a Nationals MP, saying that was a “question for him”.

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