Two little words are causing Sussan Ley a big problem.

They are “net” and “zero”.

At a special party room meeting next week she will try to get the disparate tribes of the Liberal Party onto the same page with a policy that essentially supports net zero without mentioning either of those words.

Securing that compromise is now essential.

Ley has found herself caught in a self-perpetuating cycle of manufactured instability that, if not broken, will eventually bring on a spill and drag down her leadership.

The process is unsophisticated. But it is also effective.

And we’ve seen it before. Many times. Always on energy policy.

The leader’s opponents create the impression of internal conflict by making public statements they know are counter to the party’s policy position.

They then fuel

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