My message to the Liberal Party room

My message to the Liberal Party room

When I stand up in our Party Room shortly, I will be delivering this message.
 
On election night in 2019, when we won the seat of Lindsay from Labor, I promised my community I would not let them down. When I held the seat with a swing towards us against the tide in 2022, I promised again I would not let them down. I promised this again on election night this year.
 
The consistent message to my community in my maiden speech to parliament as a new MP was that I would always fight for them – for the people working hard for their families – for our tradies – for our small businesses – for retired people – for our strong community spirit. I closed my speech by promising I would not let my people down.
 
And I promised that I would stand up for them in the public sphere and in this party room on net zero.
 
The people of Lindsay are not anti-environment. They are pro-reality. And the reality is they are working harder than they ever have, and are suffering more than they ever have. Small businesses are suffering, Aussie manufacturers are suffering. The stories of closures, of people lining up at food banks, of people living on the streets are true. This is not the Australia that our people deserve. They deserve for every one of us to fight for them.

I have surveyed my community through direct mail to every resident, and through emails and social media.

As I prepare to walk into party room, I have received 1645 local responses. The results have been very consistent from the beginning.

• 64% of people who responded do not support net zero by 2050.
• When asked if they support net zero “at any cost,” that number jumped to 83% who do not support net zero.
• 66% of people oppose Labor’s 2035 emissions reduction target.
• 89% of people said their energy bills have increased.
• 86% say higher energy bills have impacted their standard of living.
• 3% of people who responded to my survey said emissions targets were the most important issue for Australia’s energy future.
• 52% said affordable energy was their top priority,
• 33% said reliable, 24/7 power supply mattered most.
• 70% of survey respondents support the ban on nuclear being lifted.
• 88% of respondents want Australia prioritised when it comes to the gas, coal, and uranium we produce before shipping these resources offshore.
• Solar uptake is strong at just under 50% of respondents, only 14% of solar households have battery storage. This means 86% of people who have solar panels do not have a battery.

In addition, hundreds more people from across the country have completed my survey, have called my office, and have emailed me. Including Liberal Party members from your electorates. I will share these with you.

We can't keep going in the direction we are heading and expect things to be different, for Australians and for us as a Party. We need to be a strong Opposition, and to hold the Government to account on all its missed targets and broken promises.

We need to abandon net zero and give the Australian people hope. We need a short, medium and long term energy policy. We need 24/7 baseload power to back our sovereign manufacturing, including more gas. We need nuclear to power the future of our nation - the big data centres - to protect our information and our sovereign communications. We need to prioritise our nation when it comes to our natural resources.

We stay in Paris. We sort out our messaging that we do care about the environment, our climate and our future. We own our narrative. We do not give it away to our opponents. 

We prioritise affordability at the very top of the list.

We put everyday Australians first.

My very best,  

Melissa McIntosh MP
Federal Member for Lindsay
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women