The outrider for the Nationals leadership, which will be decided within hours, is pushing for the junior coalition party to dump the “ridiculous” net zero emissions target.
Queensland Senator Matt Canavan will challenge current party leader David Littleproud when Nationals politicians go to a vote on Monday afternoon.
He hopes to give the coalition a “fighting chance” at the next election after Australian voters delivered a bruising defeat at the most recent political contest.
“I don’t think the Australian people were given enough of a choice at the last election,” he told 2GB on Monday.
“(At the election) we basically said, ‘look, things are bad but we’re not proposing any major radical changes to fix it’.
“I have been an agent of change.”
Party leaders generally sit in the lower house, but having leaders in the Senate is not unprecedented, he said, pointing to the Greens who will soon appoint a leader from their upper chamber team.
“It’s unconventional … (but) we are in unconventional times,” Senator Canavan said.
“The Liberal-National coalition has suffered the worst defeat since World War II and so I think it is time we perhaps look to unconventional responses to get ourselves back in the game.”
His opposition to cutting Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050, and his outspoken nature, have given him recognition within the party and in the regions.
On Monday, he continued to label moves towards net-zero as “craziness” and vowed to dump the policy if he wins the party leadership.
He has also urged his party to diversify from its usual rural and regional voter base and run more candidates in outer-suburban seats, noting many in these areas feel forgotten by “capital city-based media”.
Mr Littleproud is still tipped to re-take the Nationals crown, but while Senator Canavan says he has done an excellent job change is needed.
“We didn’t win,” he said, of the coalition’s shattering federal election loss on May 3.
“This job, like any major leadership role, is a performance-based job, and I think we do need a different strategy.”
The Nationals will have one less person in their partyroom meeting on Monday after Northern Territory Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price moved to the Liberal party room from the Nationals.
She’s now running for the deputy Liberal leadership under leader contender Angus Taylor ahead of a vote on Wednesday.
Nationals politicians, including Senator Canavan, have lashed Senator Price for the move, although she can choose which party room to sit in.
“Jacinta, if she wanted to do this, she could have done it a different way,” he said.
“I also don’t think it’s fair for the Northern Territory people.
“She was elected over a week ago on a platform that she would sit in the National party room.”
The Labor government is likely to have at least 92 seats in the lower house, and the coalition 40, out of 150 spots. Some eight seats are still in doubt.
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