Nationals MP and former minister Keith Pitt is pulling the plug on politics, giving his leader one final serve on the way out and reigniting a fractious energy debate.
The firebrand MP was known for his staunch opposition to a net zero emissions target after his party room signed up in a deal with then-prime minister Scott Morrison in exchange for a sizeable regional funding package.
Mr Pitt holds the Queensland seat of Hinkler on a 10 per cent margin.
He was critical of Nationals leader David Littleproud, saying he needed to stand up to the Liberals more and differentiate the party from its coalition partner as he reiterated his opposition to net zero.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, who negotiated the agreement with Mr Morrison as party leader, said the coalition was “a business partnership” and there needed to be something for both partners.
“It’s an issue that obviously vexed Keith greatly and he has every right to have that serious concern,” he told Sky News.
There has been friction between sections of the Nationals and the coalition over energy policy and a commitment to net zero with climate change shaping up to be a major battleground at the upcoming election, due by May 2025.
Nationals deputy leader Perin Davey thanked Mr Pitt, lauding his time as a minister.
Senator Davey said the Nationals remained committed to net zero but support “has always been contingent upon technology agnostic approach”, she told AAP.
“If you get carbon capture and storage right, that’s how we can keep gas in the system and that’s what we will continue to work towards,” she said.
“And if it wasn’t for net zero we wouldn’t be talking about nuclear and we need nuclear.”
Mr Littleproud also wished Mr Pitt all the best, while praising the Nationals record in opposition.
He pointed to them being the first partyroom to come out against the Indigenous voice to parliament, lock in divestiture and vaping reform as coalition policy and lead on nuclear energy.
“The Nationals have set the national agenda and been loud in protecting regional Australia against Labor policy in opposition,” he said in a statement.
While there’s some private opposition to net zero in the Nationals party room, most MPs recognise the political reality of maintaining the 2050 target as they need the Liberals to win city seats in order to form a coalition government.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton denied friction between the coalition partners, saying Mr Pitt was frustrated on the backbench and had decided to take a private sector offer.
The coalition has unveiled a $330 billion nuclear plan that would put seven reactors across Australia and make up more than a third of Australia’s energy mix by 2050 in contrast to Labor’s focus on renewable technology.
But it has been slapped down by clean energy groups that brand the start-up too expensive, with renewables harnessing Australia’s vast wind and solar resources as the cheapest way forward.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen chastised the Nationals for setting “far too much economic and climate policy for the coalition”.
Mr Keith joins a growing list of Liberal and National MPs who have either quit or aren’t recontesting the next election.
Former Liberal frontbenchers Karen Andrews, Simon Birmingham, Linda Reynolds and Paul Fletcher won’t recontest the federal election.
Nationals David Gillespie and Mark Coulton have also announced their retirement, while Andrew Gee quit the party to sit on the cross bench after coming out in support of the voice.
Liberals Russell Broadbent and Ian Goodenough moved to the crossbench after losing preselections and Queensland senator Gerard Rennick quit to start his own party after being booted from the Senate ticket.
Victorian Liberal senator David Van was forced out of the party after allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.
