Conservative MPs are maintaining public pressure on new prime minister Scott Morrison to abandon the government’s in-principle support for the Paris climate targets.
The government has already walked away from plans to legislate a 26 per cent emissions reduction target for the energy sector, but the former Turnbull administration maintained it was committed to the international pact.
Within days of the new Morrison leadership, backbench Coalition MP George Christensen told his Twitter followers “more was needed” to reduce power bills.
He called on the government to “abandon costly green treaties” and praised his LNP colleague Keith Pitt for resigning from the ministry in the recent reshuffle, reportedly over wanting to put “power prices before Paris”.
Mr Morrison has not clearly stated his position on the Paris targets, but Australia remains a participant in the international agreement.
The Australian Financial Review reports Mr Morrison is fighting to convince colleagues to stick with Paris, partly because walking away could jeopardise a pending free-trade deal with the European Union.
Internal division over the Turnbull government’s National Energy Guarantee was one of the catalysts for the successful challenge to Malcolm Turnbull's leadership.
Coalition backbencher Ian Macdonald has also been open about recommending the government drop the Paris targets.
Mr Morrison said the “climate is changing”, speaking on a tour of drought-affected regional Queensland, but said the debate about whether human activity and greenhouse emissions were to blame was not relevant.
"If people want to have a debate about that, fine. It's not a debate I've participated a lot in in the past because I'm practically interested in the policies that will address what is going on here right and now,” he said.
"I'm interested in getting people's electricity prices down and I'm not terribly interested in engaging in those sorts of debates at this point."
