'Memory of goldfish, dining habits of piranhas': Liberals savaged over 'catastrophic' net zero U-turn

The Liberal Party has been savaged for abandoning its net zero target, with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull accusing the MPs who drove the change of having the memory of goldfish.

Speaking to ABC radio this morning, Turnbull said Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's decision would have disastrous political consequences.

"It's Groundhog Day," he said.

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"They're sending a message to most Australians, they do not take climate change seriously.

"What the Liberal Party is doing is essentially flying in the face of reality, not just the reality of the physics of global warming, but the reality of economics…

"If you want to fight to the death over who's going to have the 15 per cent or 10 per cent (of the vote) that people of Pauline Hanson's persuasion might be disposed to, knock yourself out, but that is no way ever to get back into government."

Climate policy has long been a sticking point in the Liberal party room, with Turnbull himself dumped as opposition leader back in 2009 after supporting the Rudd government's emissions trading scheme.

The party has hemorrhaged seats in capital cities – particularly in inner-metropolitan areas – to teal independents, Labor and the Greens in the past two elections, much of which has been attributed to comparatively weak climate policies.

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Turnbull said he had sympathy for Ley, a moderate who confirmed the switch to abandon net zero after a majority of Liberal MPs, driven by the conservatives, spoke out against the policy.

"Unfortunately she's caught in this terrible fishbowl, if you like, with the Liberal party room," he said.

"They've got the memory of goldfish and the dining habits of piranhas.

"They seem to just keep on forgetting and making the same mistake again and again… 

"It is leading them into this spiral which has resulted in them losing almost all of their city seats, losing almost all of their safest seats, the lowest vote they've ever had. 

"Now they want to double down and do it again."

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The government, as well as the teal independents and Greens, have also been quick to condemn the Liberals' decision.

But the criticism hasn't just come from politicians, with scientists lamenting the move as a step backwards.

"(It's) a catastrophic failure to acknowledge both climate science and energy system dynamics… this intentional policy failure immediately exposes Australia to the severe physical risks detailed in the National Climate Risk Assessment," Associate Professor James Hopeward from the University of South Australia said. 

"Under the highest warming scenarios (3.0°C) considered in the NCRA, severe heatwave events could more than quadruple, dramatically increasing heat-related mortality."

Ley said the Liberals would prioritise cheap energy over emissions reductions through a "technology agnostic" approach – including potentially funding more coal power, even though scientists, including those at the CSIRO, have repeatedly pointed to renewables as the cheapest form of energy.

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"The decision… doesn't pass the pub test," ANU energy expert Ken Baldwin said.

"It ignores… the economics which say that it is vastly cheaper to address climate change than to do nothing, and the business case for replacing our aging fleet of coal-fired power stations by using renewables as the cheapest option to keep electricity prices down."

Ley also said the party remained committed to the Paris Agreement – even though removing the net zero target would be in breach of the treaty – and reaching net zero would be a "welcome outcome".

"They will not happen by accident, something to 'welcome' if we stumble across it," Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change vice-chair Mark Howden said. 

"Additionally, the Paris Agreement has a 'ratchet' clause which requires nations to successively increase their emission-reduction goals, so suggestions of stepping back our goals are incompatible with that agreement."

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