No net zero, no worries for Tim Wilson in Goldstein

3 months ago 7

Picnickers in the small grassy area at the end of Church Street in Brighton on a Friday afternoon do not seem to be consumed by the climate change drama that has engulfed the Liberal Party in Canberra this week.

Their federal member, Tim Wilson, was one of the few moderates within the Liberals who begged the party not to scrap its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050, but that is far from the minds of Heather and Alexandra Oke, who are enjoying the Friday afternoon sunshine with baby Sonny.

Heather (left) and Alexandra Oke, with baby Sonny, are concerned about crime rather than reaching net zero.

Carefully positioning Sonny’s blanket in the shade, Alexandra says there are more timely – and personal – issues to be concerned with.

“As much as I am conscious of and care very much about the environment, there are other issues at home that are more pressing,” she says. “I think crime is the biggest thing at the moment in this area.”

She fishes a sandwich for Sonny out of his lunch box, and says the Coalition ditching its commitment to net zero – where the amount of carbon put into the atmosphere is offset completely by the amount taken out by 2050 – wouldn’t make a difference to how she votes in the future.

Oke voted for teal candidate Zoe Daniel in this year’s election, but says: “I am really on the fence.”

“I think that’s why it was a difficult choice last time because I felt that Tim probably represented more practical issues of the time, whereas I think her concerns were a bit loftier.”

Oke’s view is typical of the Goldstein voters that The Age spoke to in Brighton, gathered in the cafes next to the park outside St Andrew’s church where Wilson held a press conference in May claiming victory over Daniel, who won the seat from Wilson in 2022.

After being re-elected, in part on a platform supporting net zero, Wilson earlier this week left the door opening to resigning from the front bench if the Liberals dumped net zero, echoing the actions of moderate ministerial colleagues.

Tim Wilson with supporters in May, when he claimed victory in Goldstein.

A spokesman for the MP declined to say whether Wilson would resign.

“While the teals voted with the government for billions in coal subsidies, Wilson is committed to lowering emissions and cutting power prices, and he’ll be out in the community this weekend talking directly with residents on delivery,” the spokesman says.

Daniel contests this claim, posting to Instagram on Friday: “The federal parliament did not vote on subsidies for coal and gas companies during the last parliamentary term. This is false. Independents voted for gas price caps to support Australians struggling with the cost-of-living pressure.”

Fay Goode, who voted for Wilson in the May election, is at Mazi Cafe with her husband. Even though she supports renewable energy and is concerned about the opening of new coal and gas mines, she says the party’s switch on net zero is unlikely to change her vote.

Fay Goode voted for Wilson in the election and says abandoning net zero won’t change her vote.

“People my age would still vote for him, but the younger ones your age, I don’t know,” she says. “I’d like to know how the Labor Party think they’re going to get there by 2050.”

Goode’s husband jokes that she is a “rusted-on” Liberal.

“A lot of rust,” she quips.

Retiree David Jane also voted for Wilson and says he supports dumping net zero.

“I think net zero is probably impractical,” he says. “I know that people are really hurting because of the energy prices and anything that is going to give assistance to that would help for sure. If it means that they’ve got to reassess, then that’s OK with me.”

Linda Tesoriero voted for Wilson and is the only person The Age spoke to who says the Liberals dumping net zero may affect her vote in the future.

Over coffee with friend Monique Loschiavo, Tesoriero says she wants to know more about the Liberals’ policy because the details may change how she votes in the future.

“I’m hoping that the policy would be something like, whilst we can’t achieve net zero in this timeframe, it is achievable eventually, and we just have to do it in a moderate way, in a reasonable way,” she says.

“If they’re saying it’s never going to be achievable, then that’s really sad because I’d like to think we can aspire to it.”

Linda Tesoriero voted for Wilson but wants to know more details of the Liberal position on net zero.

Daniel, who was defeated by just 175 votes in the tightly fought contest, says Goldstein went from being one of the nation’s safest seats to one of its most marginal because the community wanted more integrity in politics and strong climate policy, among other things.

“This decision by the Liberals reflects neither,” she says. “Given that [Wilson] took a policy of net zero by 2050 to the election that seems to put him in a rather compromised position. Community or party? That’s the question only he can answer.”

Daniel says she and the Goldstein community will be watching closely to see how Wilson responds.

She points to polling from uCommunications which was commissioned by Climate 200 and conducted in June. It asked voters in Goldstein if they would be more or less likely to vote for the Liberal Party in the future if it abandoned net zero.

Of those polled, 41.4 per cent said they would be far less likely to vote Liberal, and 7.9 per cent less likely.

The polling also found 21.2 per cent would be far more likely to vote Liberal on abandoning net zero and 10.3 per cent more likely with 19.3 per cent opting for neither.

Resolve Political Monitor has not conducted polling on Goldstein specifically, but pollster Jim Reed says inner-city seats have shown over time that they lean towards taking action on emissions.

“This has died down as an issue over the last three years as people have focused on making ends meet,” he says.

“Not to say that it’s not an important issue for the people of Goldstein, but I doubt whether they voted out a teal for a Liberal for their environment policy.”

In Brighton, most people have other priorities than worrying too much about net zero.

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