By Zac de Silva

Liberal parliamentarians are lining up to attack net zero as dozens of MPs and senators descend on the nation’s capital to thrash out a formal policy on climate change and energy.

The party is widely expected to water down its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, but will still retain some commitment to reducing carbon pollution if it returns to government.

A party room meeting has been called for midday on Wednesday in Canberra, where members will discuss their approach to the issue.

With hours to go until the meeting, stark divisions remained within the party room

Western Sydney MP Melissa McIntosh said she would put forward the voices of her community, who were “suffering like they’ve never suffered before” as a result of Labor’s net zero target.

“This is not anti-environmental, anti-climate. It is pro-reality,” she told reporters.

“We need to bring down energy prices, we need to have a better pathway for our nation, and we need to be listening to the Australian people, who are now telling us loud and clear that the current energy policy of the Albanese Labor government, renewables-only focus on targets is killing Australians.

“It is literally survival in the suburbs right now.”

Conservative South Australian Senator Leah Blyth said net zero by 2050 was not in Australia’s national interest, while opposition industry spokesman Alex Hawke said it was a major mistake for Labor to enshrine the target into law.

“Electricity prices just under the Labor government have gone up 40 per cent already. This is what the consequence of legislating and trying to force society to do something that it just can’t do,” he told Sky News.

But members of the party’s moderate faction, such as NSW senators Andrew Bragg and Maria Kovacic, have urged the party to maintain its climate commitments, saying they could quit shadow cabinet if Australia ditched net zero and left the Paris Agreement.

Energy and climate policy has increasingly become a proxy battle for Sussan Ley’s leadership, which some MPs say is under threat from rivals in the party’s conservative flank.

Ms McIntosh said she did have ambitions to lead the party one day, but Ms Ley needed more time to bring the party behind her.

“Sussan Ley’s leadership is safe, and she’s doing exactly what she said she would by opening this issue up to all colleagues, putting Dan (Tehan) into the position of shadow minister for energy and consulting on that,” she said.

Senator Blyth was more equivocal in her support.

“I sit in shadow ministry, and it is a long held convention that to sit in shadow ministry, you support the leader and I follow that convention,” she told ABC Radio National.

Liberal insiders have stressed Wednesday’s meeting will not include a vote, and will only be a discussion about policy.

A meeting of the Liberal shadow ministry will be held on Thursday for the leadership team to finalise its energy plan.

The party will then need to negotiate with its coalition partner the Nationals, who have already promised to ditch net zero by 2050 and instead tie Australia’s carbon emissions to an average of OECD countries.

The Liberals and Nationals will attempt to thrash out a final agreement before a joint party room meeting on Sunday where the policy will, in theory, be officially endorsed.

Moderate Liberal MP Tim Wilson argued against tying emissions to international standards.

“Today is going to be a great day,” he wrote on X.

“We can be Nationals-lite and outsource our emissions policy to globalists. Or we can lead, choose hope, a sovereign target, build energy, reindustrialise Australia and back small business!”