Tony Abbott calls on Coalition to ditch net zero, warns of threat to economy and security

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has urged the Coalition to abandon all net zero commitments, warning that the policy endangers Australia’s economy, energy reliability and national way of life.

“I’d be saying we should never put reducing emissions ahead of national security and economic prosperity,” he told Sky News.

Mr Abbott argued that the Coalition’s fear of losing support from teal voters has paralysed its climate policy and prevented it from challenging what he called the “false narrative” about climate change.

“Frankly, reducing emissions is nice to do, but the net zero straitjacket is doing all sorts of damage to our country, and we’ve just got to get away from it,” he said.

“Now, let’s be blunt, there is no climate crisis, and to the extent that climate is changing, we should