Liberal MPs are meeting in Canberra to thrash out energy and climate policies but one of their most vocal advocates for change is not in the room.
The hotly anticipated gathering of backbenchers and opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan aims to clarify the party's approach to those issues in the wake of its heavy election defeat.
But party insiders have taken great pains to play down the meeting's significance.
Liberal senator Jane Hume, who runs the party's committee on the Australian economy alongside Sydney-based MP Simon Kennedy, said there would not be a formal vote or position decided at the end of the sit-down.
"It's literally about letting people express their opinions in a safe way, in a room where they feel trusted and listened to by their colleagues," she told reporters on her way into the meeting.
Mr Tehan has crisscrossed the globe as he leads a review of the coalition's energy policy and tries to reach a satisfactory compromise for both the party's moderates and conservatives.
Outspoken West Australian MP Andrew Hastie, who has been demanding the coalition walk away from any commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, is not attending the Friday meeting because he needs to have surgery on his shoulder.
"I have an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in Perth after injuring my left shoulder during a jiu-jitsu lesson," he wrote in an email to constituents.
"I'm getting old, and time is short," Mr Hastie, 43, said.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley also won't be in the room.
Despite the talks being billed as a meeting of coalition MPs, Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie suggested only Liberals would attend.
"The Liberal Party are having a policy meeting today," she told Sky News.
Friday is the first day of the National Party's federal conference, a gathering of members to thrash out positions on a range of policies.
The regional party is widely tipped to pass an motion opposing net zero at some point during the event.
Whether or not the coalition's energy plan contains a net-zero target, there is a strong chance nuclear energy will still play a role despite the party unsuccessfully making it a centrepiece of its failed election campaign.
As part of his review, Mr Tehan has travelled to the United States to speak with top nuclear officials and has continued to call on the government to end the moratorium on nuclear power.