Politics With Michelle Grattan

Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma, a former diplomat, is an up-and-comer in his party and one of its moderate voices. Holding the progressive electorate of Wentworth, where formerly Malcolm Turnbull was the member and climate change is a significant issue, Sharma was among those Liberal MPs who pressed Scott Morrison on the 2050 target before Glasgow. In this podcast Sharma discusses climate policy, the religious discrimination legislation, a national integrity commission, voter ID, China, and the Liberal party. Asked whether the government should improve its medium-term target at next years climate conference - which the government is not disposed to do - he argues for leaving options open.   “I wouldn’t be ruling it out, but nor do I think we necessarily need to be ruling it in. I think we need to maintain our options. "I think we always need to be mindful of where the international environment is at on this, and that’s very much shaped our attitude towards adopting net zero by 2050. "Australia has always bee