Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh elected as new Nationals leader

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The New South Wales nationals have chosen a new leader following the sudden resignation of Dugald Saunders. Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh will take the reins and will have to negotiate a path forward with the state liberals on the net zero target.

Transcript

00:00Gurmesh Singh has given his first media conference since being elected unopposed by the Nationals

00:06Party Room this morning. He started off by paying tribute to the former leader, Dougal Saunders,

00:11who resigned suddenly yesterday for personal reasons. But Gurmesh Singh says he'll be bringing

00:16a new style of leadership to the role. He says he'll be particularly focused on developing

00:21new policies as the 2027 election does approach. Now, one of the thorny issues that he's going to

00:29have to confront almost immediately is net zero. The New South Wales Coalition has already

00:34given its in principle support to the federal position, which is to abandon the net zero by

00:392050 target. Now, Gurmesh Singh says just a few hours into the job, he's not ruling anything in

00:45or out, including going to the next election, having adopted the 2050 target. But he says he's

00:52going to have to talk to the Liberal Party over the coming weeks to try to chart a path forward.

00:58He's also tried to play down the significance of the net zero target, saying there are bigger

01:02issues at play.

01:04Net zero is obviously a very small part of the energy mix. It's a very small part of

01:09the conversation. I'd imagine most people out on the street wouldn't know what it is.

01:13They don't know what it defines. Our goal is having cheaper, better and fairer energy for

01:18regional New South Wales. That means energy that's affordable, energy that actually keeps the

01:24lights on. And a fairer goes that regional New South Wales isn't pulling all of the load for New

01:29South Wales.

01:30The New South Wales Liberals have been meeting to discuss their own position on net zero today,

01:35and they have, as expected, reaffirmed their commitment to that 2050 target. While that was

01:41the focus of a party room meeting this morning, that's not the only thing MPs were talking about.

01:45Certainly behind the scenes, they are discussing Mark Speakman's leadership. Now, Alistair Henskins,

01:51the Shadow Attorney-General is believed to be actively speaking to his colleagues about a

01:56potential challenge. If that happens, that could throw open the possibility of more contenders,

02:03including the Shadow Health Minister, Kelly Sloan. She could be under pressure to put her hand up,

02:09as she is seen as one of the most likely candidates to take over from Mark Speakman if his leadership

02:15were to fall.

02:16Now, she's been loyal up to Mark Speakman until now, so it may be that it takes another

02:21challenger to put up his or her hand for her to step forward. Mr Speakman, it should be

02:27noted, has been on the ropes many times before, and this is not the first time that the party

02:32has been openly discussing his leadership. But his leadership certainly is under unprecedented

02:38pressure this week, as Parliament prepares to rise for the Christmas break.

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