Australia’s centre-right opposition Liberal Party on Friday elected as leader a conservative who lobbied to drop its commitment to net zero emissions, local media reported.
Angus Taylor — a former energy minister — replaces Sussan Ley, the party’s first female leader who had been in office for less than a year.
Ley was ousted after a leadership challenge was called on Thursday, leading multiple members of her team to resign.
The Liberals have endured an agonising existential crisis since a disastrous election showing last year, torn between centrist factions arguing for a more moderate stance and right-wingers skeptical of climate legislation and multiculturalism.
The party leadership has also been spooked by recent opinion polling showing it falling behind the right-wing populist One Nation.
Last month, Ley endured a very public spat with longtime coalition partners the Nationals, with whom the Liberal Party has governed Australia for much of the past century.
And in November the party dropped its commitment to net zero, introduced in 2021 by former leader Scott Morrison when he was prime minister.
Australia’s “climate wars” — a years-long domestic fight over emissions policy — stalled progress and the country remains dependent on its fossil fuel economy for growth.
New leader Taylor was seen as a key proponent of the decision to drop the commitment to zero emissions.
The son of a sheep farmer, he is seen as part of the Liberal’s conservative “national right” faction.
He attracted online ridicule in 2019 when he replied to his own social media post with: “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus”.
The next general election must be held by May 2028 after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party won power by a wide margin last year.
