George Christensen on the Zero Net Wars, By George Christensen

Two bills hit Canberra this week, and they tell you everything you need to know about where this country is headed.

On one side stands Barnaby Joyce, the Nationals MP for New England. Joyce isn't some faceless politician; he's a former Deputy Prime Minister, a maverick who has spent decades standing up for rural Australia. He has introduced the Repeal Net Zero Bill 2025 to dump Australia's commitment to so-called "net zero" emissions by 2050. Let's be clear: net zero is not about saving the planet. It is about crippling Australia, shutting down our industries, and making ordinary families pay more while the elites pat themselves on the back. Joyce himself has called it a "lunatic crusade" and demanded transparency: "It's incredibly important that the Australian people get some sort of transparency on an industry that has been mired in secrecy."

On the other side stands Zali Steggall, the independent Teal MP from Sydney's ridiculously wealthy and leafy north shore. She is a lawyer who made her name by ousting former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2019 on the back of the notion that Canberra can change the climate. Steggall is pushing her own Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation) Bill 2025 for endless "climate risk assessments" and "adaptation plans." Sounds innocent enough, but it is just another way of feeding the bureaucratic beast. It is the same old Teal script: more red and green tape, more climate alarmism, and more control in the hands of government and unelected experts.Bottom of Form

Barnaby Joyce's Repeal Net Zero Bill 2025 aims to scrap Australia's net zero by 2050 target, exposing it as an economic and industrial self-sabotage.

Zali Steggall's competing climate bill pushes more bureaucracy and top-down control through endless risk assessments and adaptation plans.

Net zero was imposed without proper scrutiny, resulting in soaring power bills, lost jobs, and hardship for everyday Australians, while China and India ignore similar targets.

Key Nationals and Liberals, from Senator Matthew Canavan to Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie, are warning that net zero is a scam hurting regional communities, while grassroots party members are demanding change.

Major economies are walking back climate promises while Australians are left footing the bill; this is a fight between control and freedom.

Now, let me break this down for you. Net zero was stitched up by Scott Morrison in 2021 after heavy pressure from the globalist class and climate lobbyists. He sold it as harmless, even as inevitable. "Cheaper power bills," they said. "A flood of new green jobs," they promised. What have we actually got? Power bills soaring by double digits. Jobs in mining and manufacturing vanishing. Farmers squeezed. Ordinary Australians asked to sacrifice while China builds new coal plants at record pace and India does not even pretend to get to net zero until 2070.

It is a scam. And worse than that, it is a national act of self-harm.

Barnaby knows it. Matt Canavan knows it. Canavan, a Queensland Nationals Senator and former Resources Minister, has been one of the loudest and most consistent voices against net zero. He puts it bluntly: "Australians struggling to pay their power bills deserve to know the true cost of net zero… not doing that before adopting net zero is one of the greatest policy failures in Australian history."

And then there is Andrew Hastie, Liberal MP for Canning in Western Australia, a decorated former SAS officer and now Shadow Home Affairs Minister. He has called the net zero economy a "moral hypocrisy" and a "scam." In his words: "Australia has gone from an energy abundance to an energy famine in two decades. Why? Because we are chasing fantasy climate targets, and lining the pockets of an aggressive green energy lobby with our hard-earned money."

Backing Joyce in Parliament is Colin Boyce, Nationals MP for Flynn in Central Queensland, a former tradesman who represents coal country. His warning could not have been clearer: "We're overseeing the demise of these energy industries… literally thousands of jobs at stake. If we continue down this road… it is absolute nonsense."

And Michael McCormack, another former Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader, has weighed in too. The country newspaper man from Wagga Wagga does not do theatrics, but he does call things as they are: "Net zero in Australia will have zero effect on the climate, zero effect, none. The only thing it's affecting is our nation's capacity to defend itself… People are becoming poorer. It is not even about the climate… This is madness."

The grassroots are speaking as well. At the Queensland LNP State Conference just days ago, hundreds of rank-and-file members voted overwhelmingly to ditch net zero. This follows similar votes in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. It is not a whisper, it is a roar, from the people closest to reality, not cushioned in inner-city think tanks. And it puts the federal leadership on notice: if Sussan Ley and David Littleproud do not ditch net zero, they cannot claim to represent Australians or hope to take the fight to Labor at the next election.

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And what about the rest of the world? Donald Trump, back in the White House, has already withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement and scrapped America's 2050 net zero target. The United Kingdom still has net zero in law but has backtracked, delaying its petrol and diesel car ban from 2030 to 2035 and watering down other policies as energy bills bite. Canada has enshrined net zero 2050 in law, but Trudeau's government quietly shifted its "net zero electricity" target from 2035 out to 2050 after provinces rebelled. Poland has openly resisted Brussels' diktats and pushed its target back to 2060. Meanwhile, China keeps promising "carbon neutrality" by 2060 while commissioning new coal plants at a nine-year high, and India shrugs at the whole charade with a 2070 target. Add to that Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Indonesia, all pledging 2060 or later.

Yet the United Nations and World Economic Forum still demand every country fall into line. At COP28, the UN called for a "transition away" from fossil fuels and a "tripling" of renewables. The WEF's Net-Zero Industry Tracker openly spells out how they plan to squeeze steel, cement, aviation and shipping until global industries kneel. And who pays for all this? Not China. Not India. You do.

And what about you? So where do you stand? Do you stand with the workers in coal country, the farmers fighting to stay on their land, the families watching their bills skyrocket? Or do you stand with the bankers, bureaucrats and billionaires pocketing subsidies from your taxes while lecturing you about carbon footprints?

Labor clearly stands with the bankers, bureaucrats, and climate billionaires. In fact, Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen are loving all of this because they think it makes the Liberal National Coalition look divided. They want the Liberals and Nationals tearing each other apart while Labor sails on, cementing ruinous climate targets that will strangle our economy for decades.

But here's the truth: division isn't the problem. The real problem is that too many so-called conservatives are still clinging to the net-zero nightmare, terrified of being called "deniers" by the ABC. They're so desperate for approval from inner-city voters that they'll sell out the bush, sell out workers, and sell out the nation.

This debate is not going away. It is only getting louder. The Coalition is at a crossroads, and Australia is too. We either ditch the net zero suicide pact, or we keep marching down a path that guarantees higher costs, weaker industries, and less freedom.

This is the fork in the road. Net zero or national survival. Barnaby or Zali. Freedom or control.

Don't sit on the sidelines. Speak up. First of all, share this article.

Then tell your local Federal Liberal or National MP (if you have one) that you won't accept the net zero scam. If you don't have a local Coalition politician, then contact their Senators for your State. Share the truth with your mates, your family, your community. Write to your local paper or call into talkback radio and let your message be heard. Because if we leave this to the elites, you already know how it ends: with you paying the bill, and them laughing all the way to the bank.

Australia doesn't need more climate bureaucracy. It needs leaders with the guts to say no to this madness. Barnaby Joyce has put that choice squarely on the table.

It is time to choose. Do we stand with Barnaby and common sense, or with Zali and her net-zero fantasy?

https://nationfirst.substack.com/p/barnaby-vs-net-zero-the-fight-to