Net Zero by 2050.

That’s the topic of discussion at an informal meeting of Liberal Members and Senators at Parliament on Friday.

The gathering won’t be a formal Joint Party Room, and it won’t set a binding position on energy policy.

But it will set the conditions for what comes next.

Normally I’d attend, but I have an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in Perth after injuring my left shoulder during a Ju-Jitsu lesson at Mandurah Combat Sports Academy (see Pic of the Week below).

I’m getting old, and time is short.

But I don’t think there's any doubt about my position on Net Zero.

I’ve been very clear over the last few months, as shown in the email below from early August.

Looking back, the Paris Agreement in 2015 was the final fever dream of the Obama Presidency. It was liberalism at its peak.

Since then, the world has changed. 

Strategic disorder grows. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza woke us from the long slumber.

President Trump has reset the terms of security and trade. There's no free lunch for old allies under a policy of 'America First'.

Energy security now trumps climate action, as long shadows fall on unfettered globalisation and U.S. strategic dominance.

Smart people declare that the U.S. led global order is dead under President Trump, yet the centre-left cling to Obama-era fantasies like Net Zero.

This is delusional nursery-thinking. Because we’re in the wild now.

It’s a dangerous world.

And policy makers must see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.

Heavyweights like China, India and the U.S. are not pursuing Net Zero by 2050.

So why should we?

Our 1.1% of global emissions doesn't justify the economic vandalism of the Albanese Government. 

Not as other countries gather strength.

It’s time for hard-headed strategic thinking that secures our economic future.

We have a big opportunity to take Australia in a new direction—but only if we show courage in this vital policy area.

Here is my broad position:

1. We must abandon the Net Zero target and save our country from economic ruin.

Energy prices keep rising, killing our productivity and shrinking our industrial base.

In the space of thirty years, we’ve slipped from 62nd to 105th on the Harvard Economic Complexity Index.

Source: Harvard Economic Complexity Index

That index is a world leading model that uses a country’s industrial capacity and knowhow as a predictor of future economic growth.

We sit in the bottom third of 149 nations. Japan, Italy, China, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. all sit well above us in the rankings.

We need to turn this around, and it starts with energy policy.

2. We must repeal all the Net Zero legislation that is penalising and taxing Australian families, businesses and industries.

Let’s have a green tape bonfire.

This will end the transfer of wealth from Australian taxpayers to the climate lobbyists, the dud energy projects, and the foreign businesses who benefit from all the subsidies.

No more green grift. No more stealing from the punters.

3. We must repeal the ban on nuclear power.

This is common sense.

We’re buying nuclear submarines from the United States, and we need a civil industry to support it.

Capital markets will invest in Australia once we end the foolish prohibition on nuclear.

No more Boomer nuclear disarmament thinking from the 1980s.

Let’s get it done.

4. We must create an abundance of energy for the Australian people.

That means coal, gas, uranium and—where economical—solar and wind.

Cheap base load power only comes from coal, gas and nuclear.

In any case, we export 25% of the world’s coal and 20% of the world’s gas to big emitters like China, India and Japan.

It’s only fair that we give Australians the same cheap energy we export to others so we too can be prosperous, secure, productive and competitive.

We also need to drill for oil. And invest in our sovereign refining capacity.

That’s the only way we can achieve energy security.

5. We must get the Australian economy firing.

We have a powerful engine under the bonnet, it just needs high octane fuel.

If we create an abundance of energy, we can invest in sovereign artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing capabilities.

That will move us up the economic complexity rankings but—more importantly—put us in a strong strategic position for the future.

In short:

We should put the Australian people first and get out of Net Zero.

Energy security should be our focus.

We must articulate an aggressive supply-side reform agenda that brings on energy supply and drives prices down.

Then we can unleash the creative and productive potential of the Australian people.

That’s where I stand.