What is the point of the Liberal Party’s Moderate faction?

It’s not an unfair question. After six months of infighting over net zero, the federal opposition has adopted the Nationals’ climate change policy.

And after months of internal warfare over climate policy, the press conference announcing a detente between the Liberals and Nationals felt like an anticlimax.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, Nationals leader David Littleproud and energy and emissions reduction spokesman Dan Tehan.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Some moderates, led by South Australian senator Anne Ruston, put up a fight on the prospect of a Coalition flagging to the voters that it could subsidise new coal plants one day, as part of its “technology neutral” approach.

Coal is the toughest sell for those Liberals who still hope to sway metropolitan voters, now that they’ve swallowed the plan to jettison net zero on the grudging proviso that they can still mention the Paris Agreement.

There was enough pushback from moderates on the call wondering how the hell they were going to answer questions to irritate the victorious conservatives, who had come to rubber-stamp the talking points.

“People think it’s us undermining Sussan, but now it’s the........

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