THE Federal Coalition has split after policy agreement talks broke down, but the Liberal Party has said the door remains open to the Nationals to rejoining before the next election.
Nationals Party leader David Littleproud made the bombshell announcement on Tuesday, just two weeks after the Liberal Party’s landslide defeat at the federal polls.
The Liberals lost 12 seats and now have 28. The Nationals retained all 15 of their seats.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said the Nationals will get no “reward” in terms of extra resources or staff for deserting the Coalition, as Liberal leader Sussan Ley considers how to fill an entire shadow ministry with only Liberal MPs.
This means Member for Mallee Anne Webster will miss out on a position on the crossbench.
Ms Ley must also fill portfolios formerly held by Nationals members, including Indigenous Australians, water, resources, agriculture, trade, infrastructure, veterans, international development and manufacturing.
Mr Littleproud said the Nationals would sit alone on a “principal basis”.
“On the basis of looking forward, not having to look back and to try and actually regain important policy pieces that change the lives of the people we represent,” he told reporters.
“It’s on a principal position of making sure that those hard-fought wins are maintained and respected and we continue to look forward.”
Mr Littleproud said the policy positions “we couldn’t get comfort around” included nuclear, the $20 billion Regional Australia Future Fund, divestiture powers for supermarkets and reform to the universal service obligation.
“And what we are saying is that what we secured in the former Coalition are policies that should remain,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We don’t want to have to look back and waste energy on trying to re-prosecute the case, we should be continuing to look forward.
“I had a respectful conversation with Sussan Ley … made it very clear that we remain committed to having the door open, respecting the position that Sussan’s been put in, that she is a leader that needs to rebuild the Liberal Party.
“They are going on a journey of rediscovery, and this will provide them the opportunity to do that without the spectre of the National Party imposing their will.”
The Nationals said they would “try and rebuild” the relationship to re-enter a Coalition before the next election.
First formed in 1923 as the Nationalist/Country Party Coalition, the following century saw a number of breakups between the subsequent iterations of the two parties and their partnership.
The last time a formal separation occurred was 1987.
Ms Ley said the move to not double down on some policies taken to May’s election were part of a post defeat review.
“The Nationals’ sought commitments on specific policies,” Ms Ley said.
“As was explained to the Nationals, the Liberal Party’s review of election policies was not an indication that any one of them would be abandoned, nor that every single one would be adopted.
“We offered to work constructively with the Nationals, respecting the party’s deeply held views on these issues.
“We asked the National Party to work constructively with us, respecting our internal processes.”
Member for Mallee Anne Webster said the Nationals would now have the “clear air” to advocate without “restraint”.
“Today’s bold decision shows the Nationals will never take a backward step in fighting for regional Australia’s best interests,” Dr Webster said
“There have been three breaks in the Coalition agreement before, and every time the Coalition has come back in a better position to govern for all Australians from the regions to the capital cities.”
Nationals MP Darren Chester warned his party risked spending years in the political wilderness achieving nothing if it fails to rejoin the Coalition.
“If we go to the next sitting of parliament being two divided party rooms we are giving a free pass to the prime minister and that’s not good for regional and rural Australia,” he told The Australian Financial Review.
THE ramifications, if any, for the Victorian Coalition are unclear.
Questions sent by The Guardian to the Nationals about the Federal situation were unanswered.
The party was asked if the Victorian Liberal and Nationals remained committed to its agreement, whether the federal split had ramifications at a state level, and whether the Victorian Nationals leader, Danny O’Brien, was disappointed by the decision made by his Federal colleagues.
Following the most recent Victorian election, in November 2022, the now Nationals leader told the ABC the Nationals breaking up the Coalition should be on the table.
It’s also unclear if he still stand by his comments.
Mr O’Brien, however, told the Herald Sun this week that “we have a very strong Coalition here in Victoria”.
“We work really well together,” he said.
“We’ve got a good arrangement now with Brad (Liberal leader) and myself and all of our teams.”
In November 2022, Mr O’Brien told ABC radio the Nationals had not considered breaking up the Coalition but the discussion should be on the table.
“We need to think about what the best is, not just for us, but for the Liberal Party,” he said at the time.
“(The Liberals) are going to go through a fair bit of soul searching in coming days and weeks and months and we have performed very well.”
“Ultimately we want to be in government and being able to deliver from the government benches for the people of rural and regional Victoria,”
“We’re not going to be for the next four years; it’s going to be tough, even for the next election too, so we need to be considering what the best options are for us.”
Then Nationals leader, Peter Walsh, condemned Mr O’Brien’s comments on the party’s structure.
“Danny is totally outside his remit in saying that because it’s not a discussion that’s been had in the party room,” he said.
