Generational evolution forces Nationals to consider adopting emissions intensity scheme

An emissions intensity scheme could become official policy of the NSW Nationals on Friday, a move that would represent a split from the federal leadership and a challenge to the Turnbull government's climate change agenda.

Barnaby Joyce with deputy leader Fiona Nash
 and National MPs and senators at Parliament House.

After the state's Young Nationals backed the contentious proposal in April, the motion will be on the agenda at the party's annual conference, a two-day gathering that will draw hundreds of rank-and-file supporters, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.

The call for a national emissions intensity scheme will be hotly contested as will the removal of abortion from the NSW Crimes Act and an increased Syrian refugee intake.

The policy battles highlight the generational evolution taking place within the party, which is deeply conservative at a parliamentary level but more socially and environmentally progressive among younger members.

Read Fergus Hunter’s story in The Sydney Morning Herald - “Generational evolution forces Nationals to consider adopting emissions intensity scheme.”

(The world can't wait until the old guard that is frustrating action on climate change dies off - they must either stand aside or be forced aside, as the changes wrought by our disrupted climate system are advancing faster than they are dieting off. Their intentional delaying tactics border on criminal and so constitute as crime against humanity - a somewhat difficult charge to sustain, although those who follow will understand that fully as they wrestle with the wreckage left behind by the likes of Barnaby Joyce - Robert McLean.)