The Liberals can adopt the climate policy of net zero emissions by 2050 on Australia’s behalf without having the Nationals onboard, Nats leader Barnaby Joyce says. He’s not the boss of PM Scott Morrison, he said, and the Liberal leader can adopt a new climate policy because he has “his own mandate and he has his own capacity, and that is absolutely and utterly his own right.”. Still, the parties are in a coalition, and it’s a policy split they are trying to avoid. As for the timeline for setting Australia’s emissions targets ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow: the Nats will hand over their wish list for protecting regional jobs by the end of the week, reports this morning say.