Prime Minister Scott Morrison says net-zero emissions are achievable by 2050 but he has declined to make it a commitment.
Ahead of the government's release of its long-flagged technology roadmap this week, Mr Morrison said zero emissions would certainly be achieved in the second half of this century.
In a pre-recorded interview with ABC television's Insiders program, the prime minister said it was about the technology the nation invests in when considering how to make such targets happen.
"I'm more interested in the doing," Mr Morrison said.
"I know people get very focused on the politics of these commitments but what I'm focused on is on the technology that delivers lower emissions, lower costs and more jobs."
Pressed several times by Insiders' host David Speers about a commitment to a 2050 zero target, Mr Morrison said: "We are committed to investing in the technology which reduces emissions in this country."
"Those things are achievable with the right investments in the right technology.
"And you won't get there, I guarantee you this, if you are going to narrow the sorts of technologies and the sorts of solutions that you are prepared to look at which is why we want to broaden that out."
Business groups, farmers and the states all want to pursue a net-zero emissions target by 2050.
