Australia's first climate change minister has delivered a blunt message as the coalition walks away from carbon emissions targets.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, a veteran of Canberra's so-called climate wars, said the coalition's decision to abandon net zero would do little to shift public opinion.

Senator Wong questioned what had become of the Liberal Party and cautioned against its lurch to the right.

"This used to be a serious mainstream political party in this country and now it is overrun by the fringes," she told ABC News.

"They are trying to outflank Pauline Hanson. And what I'd say to Sussan Ley and to Andrew Hastie and to Angus Taylor is you can't be more Pauline than Pauline."

Watered-down climate targets would drive up power prices for Australians and show disrespect towards

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