The conservative parties can change their leaders – but it won’t stop the NSW Coalition’s death spiral | Anne Davies
The NSW Nationals have a new leader, Gurmesh Singh, and the Liberals will almost certainly follow suit by early next week.It’s desperation politics. Changing leaders will likely do nothing to stop the apparent death spiral the conservative side of politics has inflicted upon itself – in Canberra and now the states.If they needed evidence of what the electorate was thinking, it was shouting at them from internal YouGov research presented to the NSW Liberal party room on Tuesday. The party’s MPs and MLCs were considering whether to dump net zero as their federal counterparts did on the weekend.YouGov found only one-third of Australians would now seriously consider voting for the Coalition, the party room was told.It found 26% of Australians who are former Coalition voters won’t seriously consider the Coalition in the future. That’s approximately 5 million voters the Coalition needs to persuade to consider them again, the pollsters said.“Only one in five (21%) of former Coalition voters see the Coalition as being in touch with modern Australia. Only one in four (25%) see them as aligned with their values,” the YouGov report stated.One in two (52%) of former Coalition voters said they would only consider a party ready to govern if it had credible policies to address climate change and its impacts.Without a coherent position on the most pressing problem of our generation – how to slow climate change – voters, in particular younger cohorts, have fled in droves. They are unable to take seriously a political party that ignores the overwhelming scientific consensus and the economics of renewables.The federal Liberals have chosen to dump any semblance of a coherent plan.The NSW Liberals, however, voted on Tuesday to retain a net zero emissions by 2050 target. They are sticking with the bipartisan energy transition roadmap devised by the state Coalition when in government.But how does that work when their federal counterparts are talking up new coal-fired power stations and their junior state partner has abandoned the net zero target?Singh, the NSW National’s newly minted leader, hopes a compromise might be reached – though it takes a vivid imagination to see it working.As the first Indian-Australian to leader a major party, he’s a break from the white male graziers that the NSW National party usually chooses.Singh has a degree in industrial design, has worked in advertising and was previously a big wheel in the blueberry and macadamia industries. He formerly chaired Oz Group Co-op – the major marketing co-operative in the Coffs region.His family is still a major player in the Coffs Harbour blueberry industry, an industry that has divided the local community over rapid rapid expansion, use of pesticides, environmental standards and use of contract labour.Singh is acutely aware that on the north coast, his own and other seats face an existential political threat from the progressive side of politics, in the form of the Greens and teals, who have made action on climate change central to their platforms.The Greens already hold the state seat of Ballina, just north of Singh’s seat. In the 2025 federal election, teal candidate Caz Heize slashed the National’s margin in the seat of Cowper (which includes Coffs Harbour) to 0.14% on a two-party preferred basis.Singh is no Barnaby Joyce or Matt Canavan, dinosaurs of the National party whose mission includes returning Australia to a coal-fired past. But he is of the same party.Asked at his first press conference how he would reconcile the Nationals’ position with that of the Liberals in NSW, Singh highlighted the cost of power, the plight of pensioners in the regions who can’t afford hot showers, and suggested a better-managed rollout was required. He didn’t diss renewables per se.Meanwhile, the Liberals’ leadership drama is still to unfold, probably on Thursday, or possibly early next week.Moderate Kellie Sloane, a former journalist who has been an MP for less than three years, appears to be the frontrunner to replace Mark Speakman.However, Alister Heskens, from the right faction and the manager of opposition business, is also canvassing the numbers.The difficulty for Sloane will be her lack of history in the party and her inexperience in government. Heskens’ challenge is his low profile and convincing colleagues he offers an improvement on Speakman. He is likely to relish attacking Labor more than Speakman does.The NSW Liberals have, at least, heeded the YouGov polling on attitudes to climate change and have not been infected by the nonsense pedalled by Advance and other climate-denying figures on the right.The party issued a statement on Tuesday that it remained “committed to a target of net zero by 2050”.“It’s been our target since 2016. It’s a target to be achieved alongside a focus on energy reliability, affordability, and industrial competitiveness.”
The Nationals have a new leader in Gurmesh Singh and Kellie Sloane could soon replace Liberal leader Mark Speakman. But the Coalition is fractured on net zeroThe NSW Nationals have a new leader, Gurmesh Singh, and the Liberals will almost certainly follow suit by early next week.It’s desperation politics. Changing leaders will likely do nothing to stop the apparent death spiral the conservative side of politics has inflicted upon itself – in Canberra and now the states. Continue reading...
The NSW Nationals have a new leader, Gurmesh Singh, and the Liberals will almost certainly follow suit by early next week.
It’s desperation politics. Changing leaders will likely do nothing to stop the apparent death spiral the conservative side of politics has inflicted upon itself – in Canberra and now the states.
If they needed evidence of what the electorate was thinking, it was shouting at them from internal YouGov research presented to the NSW Liberal party room on Tuesday. The party’s MPs and MLCs were considering whether to dump net zero as their federal counterparts did on the weekend.
YouGov found only one-third of Australians would now seriously consider voting for the Coalition, the party room was told.
It found 26% of Australians who are former Coalition voters won’t seriously consider the Coalition in the future. That’s approximately 5 million voters the Coalition needs to persuade to consider them again, the pollsters said.
“Only one in five (21%) of former Coalition voters see the Coalition as being in touch with modern Australia. Only one in four (25%) see them as aligned with their values,” the YouGov report stated.
One in two (52%) of former Coalition voters said they would only consider a party ready to govern if it had credible policies to address climate change and its impacts.
Without a coherent position on the most pressing problem of our generation – how to slow climate change – voters, in particular younger cohorts, have fled in droves. They are unable to take seriously a political party that ignores the overwhelming scientific consensus and the economics of renewables.
The federal Liberals have chosen to dump any semblance of a coherent plan.
The NSW Liberals, however, voted on Tuesday to retain a net zero emissions by 2050 target. They are sticking with the bipartisan energy transition roadmap devised by the state Coalition when in government.
But how does that work when their federal counterparts are talking up new coal-fired power stations and their junior state partner has abandoned the net zero target?
Singh, the NSW National’s newly minted leader, hopes a compromise might be reached – though it takes a vivid imagination to see it working.
As the first Indian-Australian to leader a major party, he’s a break from the white male graziers that the NSW National party usually chooses.
Singh has a degree in industrial design, has worked in advertising and was previously a big wheel in the blueberry and macadamia industries. He formerly chaired Oz Group Co-op – the major marketing co-operative in the Coffs region.
His family is still a major player in the Coffs Harbour blueberry industry, an industry that has divided the local community over rapid rapid expansion, use of pesticides, environmental standards and use of contract labour.
Singh is acutely aware that on the north coast, his own and other seats face an existential political threat from the progressive side of politics, in the form of the Greens and teals, who have made action on climate change central to their platforms.
The Greens already hold the state seat of Ballina, just north of Singh’s seat. In the 2025 federal election, teal candidate Caz Heize slashed the National’s margin in the seat of Cowper (which includes Coffs Harbour) to 0.14% on a two-party preferred basis.
Singh is no Barnaby Joyce or Matt Canavan, dinosaurs of the National party whose mission includes returning Australia to a coal-fired past. But he is of the same party.
Asked at his first press conference how he would reconcile the Nationals’ position with that of the Liberals in NSW, Singh highlighted the cost of power, the plight of pensioners in the regions who can’t afford hot showers, and suggested a better-managed rollout was required. He didn’t diss renewables per se.
Meanwhile, the Liberals’ leadership drama is still to unfold, probably on Thursday, or possibly early next week.
Moderate Kellie Sloane, a former journalist who has been an MP for less than three years, appears to be the frontrunner to replace Mark Speakman.
However, Alister Heskens, from the right faction and the manager of opposition business, is also canvassing the numbers.
The difficulty for Sloane will be her lack of history in the party and her inexperience in government. Heskens’ challenge is his low profile and convincing colleagues he offers an improvement on Speakman. He is likely to relish attacking Labor more than Speakman does.
The NSW Liberals have, at least, heeded the YouGov polling on attitudes to climate change and have not been infected by the nonsense pedalled by Advance and other climate-denying figures on the right.
The party issued a statement on Tuesday that it remained “committed to a target of net zero by 2050”.
“It’s been our target since 2016. It’s a target to be achieved alongside a focus on energy reliability, affordability, and industrial competitiveness.”