David Littleproud has retained his position as leader of the Nationals following a challenge over climate policy but has refused to say whether the party remains committed to net-zero emissions by 2050.
The rural party’s MPs and senators on Monday re-elected Mr Littleproud and backed Kevin Hogan as deputy leader.
Queensland senator Matt Canavan failed to garner sufficient support to claim the leadership after positioning himself as “an agent of change” and urging the coalition to dump its net zero commitment.
Asked whether he was willing to stake his leadership on net zero, Mr Littleproud said policies were not determined solely by the leader.
“I don’t make captain’s calls,” he told reporters.
“I draw on the experience of those in that party room to be able to determine the policies that we take forward.”
Quizzed about whether the party had decided on the target, Mr Littleproud said the Nationals would work through the issue.
“We’re going to review all our policies, and we’ll do that in a calm, methodical way … to make sure we understand the implications of any decisions we make,” he said.
The coalition took a plan to the election to replace the nation’s ageing coal-fired power stations with nuclear reactors.
Mr Littleproud said the fundamentals of nuclear energy had not changed despite the coalition’s election defeat.
“You cannot run an economy of the industrial scale the size of Australia on an all-renewables approach,” he said.
The Nationals’ leadership positions are spilled after every federal election.
A fresh deputy was needed after the party’s former second-in-command Perin Davey lost her Senate seat on May 3.
Senator Davey was still able to vote as she remains a senator – and part of the party room – until July 1.
Bridget McKenzie will lead the minor party in the Senate.
Nationals MP and former leader Michael McCormack earlier backed Mr Littleproud but said the open contest would help clear the air.
Gippsland MP Darren Chester also backed Mr Littleproud and said the party should stick with its nuclear energy policy.
“My position is … we should be doing the work we’ve intended to do, which was have a two-and-a-half-year critical assessment of the seven sites, and to see what’s possible with nuclear in Australia,” he told ABC News.
MPs Colin Boyce and Llew O’Brien, both staunchly opposed to climate targets, backed Senator Canavan ahead of the vote.
The Nationals had one less person in their party room meeting after Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price moved to the Liberal party room.
The Liberals will choose a party leader on Tuesday.
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