SA Liberal Party Defends Right to Debate Potential Axing of Net Zero Support

Labor labelled the Liberals ‘extremists’ for pushing to dump net zero.

An aerial view of of wind turbines in Port Augusta, South Australia on Feb. 25, 2025. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

The South Australian (SA) Liberal Party has defended the right to open debate after being labelled extremists for considering cancelling support towards net zero.

In a recent motion, the SA Liberal State Council voted and called on the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party to “rescind their policy of net zero by 2050.”

In response, Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas claimed the “far and extreme right wing” had taken over the division.

“They are putting their fingers in their ears and becoming more extremist,” he told reporters.

However, SA Liberal Party leader Vincent Tarzia rejected this and said the party supported freedom, family, and aspiration.

“We are not a communist party. It is not uncommon for the Liberal Party to have these debates and have these policy discussions,” Tarzia told reporters in Adelaide.

“We remain committed to our 2050 targets, so the motion that was discussed was talking to the federal position.”

The motion does not bind either the state or federal Liberal parliamentary teams.

Several other policies were also put forward at the meeting, including calling on the state Liberal Party to reform tax, prioritise personal freedom, and remove third-party providers who teach sexualised content in schools (pdf).

Meanwhile, Labor Energy and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis claimed the South Australian Liberals were “obsessing over the culture wars.”

“The state Liberals have abandoned Net Zero, yet Vincent Tarzia still has a Shadow Minister for Net Zero in Stephen Patterson,” he said in a press release.

In a post to X, Koutsantonis lamented that Senator Alex Antic’s grip on the South Australian Liberals was “tightening.”

Antic had earlier taken to social media to celebrate the net zero motion passing the State Council, sharing a video of U.S. President Donald Trump, saying, “We are going to win so much you may even get tired of winning.”

He also said on X, “It’s time to scrap net zero and save Australia.”

The Liberal senator recently called for his federal colleagues to abandon net zero.

“We have to drown out those voices of net zero, the voices of the Paris Agreement. It’s all harmful for this country,” Antic said on Sky News Australia.

Liberal Party Senator Alex Antic speaks in Sydney at CPAC Australia on Aug. 19, 2023. Wade Zhong/The Epoch Times

Soaring Electricity Prices

Amid the exchanges on net zero policy, South Australians are facing higher electricity prices, according to a recent report from the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Wholesale electricity prices soared by 20 percent in the first quarter of 2025 when compared to the same quarter in 2024.

“Wholesale spot prices in South Australia averaged $66/megawatt-hour (MWh) across the quarter, up $11/MWh (+20 percent) from those in Q1 2024,” the report said (pdf).

It noted that hot weather had led to demand for electricity increasing 7.6 percent during the quarter.

The SA government is aiming to achieve 100 percent renewables by the year 2027.

The state is bidding for the U.N. COP31 climate change conference, which is set to take place in November 2026.

In the 2025-26 state budget, to be officially delivered on June 6, Labor will allocate $8.3 million to the COP31 conference early works planning.