Politics
Nationals ‘will work with Liberals’
The end of the federal coalition won't stop the Nationals from working with their ex-political partner to target their common enemy – a rampant Labor government.
Amid a disagreement over the retention of policies following a heavy election defeat, party leader David Littleproud pulled the Nationals out of a partnership with the Liberals.
But, Littleproud also said he won't be "unrealistic or stupid" and plans to work with the Liberals to target the federal government, which has a strong majority.
"The enemy is still Labor," he told reporters. "This isn't a split of the Coalition in anger or vengeance, this is one on principle and a time for Liberal Party rediscovery.
"I want them to succeed and I want us to succeed but there are principles that we can't walk away from."
Leaders of both the Liberals and the Nationals insist the "door is open" to discussions and possible reunification ahead of the next federal election.
But until then, neither party has a path to power in their own right, effectively smoothing the road for the government.
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard said getting the Coalition back together was "more important than anything else" as a prolonged separation would solidify policy differences, making them harder to resolve.
Nationals Deputy Leader Kevin Hogan and Leader David Littleproud. – AAP
Though the decision to pull out of the Coalition was not unanimous within the Nationals' party room, Littleproud said he needed to stand up for the voters who sent him and his colleagues to parliament.
"It's a simple game of arithmetic – as John Howard has always said – but to get that arithmetic in your column, you actually have to stand for something and you have to protect and serve the people who put you here," he said.
The party leader notified Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Coalition's split on Tuesday and will meet with him in the coming days to work through the impact on the Nationals' new, and reduced, status in parliament.
Seven Nationals, including Littleproud, will take a haircut worth tens of thousands of dollars from their base salary rates of about $230,000 after walking away from leadership positions in a future shadow cabinet.
Five are actively taking pay cuts, while the other two will forego promotions.
Deputy Liberal leader Ted O'Brien said it was a "a very challenging time" for everybody.
"I wish that the National Party did not walk away. But that doesn't mean we're going to throw everything out of the cot and scream. Indeed, the door is open," he said.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said it wasn't unusual for the two parties to take a "pause", given they have had periods apart after three out of four times they'd lost government.
"The Liberal Party have a lot of issues to work out subsequent to the election, which was a terrible result," he said.
"I just think this is the best for both parties that we work those things out separately."
Sussan Ley speaks to the media in front of portraits of former Liberal leaders. – AAP
It was irrelevant whether Nationals MPs lost their political and pecuniary privileges as a result of the split, Senator Canavan said.
It was more important for the party to get its policies right on living standards, issues like net zero and "all this stuff we've signed up to internationally".
"My focus is on putting Australia first, not my own political party's convenience," he said.
Longer term, there's an expectation the two parties will get back together, political expert Henry Maher said.
"The closer we get to the election, the more pressure there will be to rejoin," he said.
Former Queensland Legislative Assembly speaker John Mickel went further, calling for a formal amalgamation at a federal level to solve the parties' problems.
It could model the Liberal-National Party merger in Queensland in 2008, he said, adding it would stop competition between the two in some federal seats such as Bullwinkel in Western Australia, where they ran against each other.
Former WA Liberal premier Colin Barnett also made the case for a federal amalgamation.
The first coalition split in nearly 40 years comes after Littleproud and Liberal leader Sussan Ley failed to reach an agreement on four key policies.
Littleproud said he wanted to see the Albanese government brought down and the coalition form government but "not at any cost".
"If we get to a juncture after the next election where we can form a government with the Liberal Party, then obviously we're going to support the Liberal Party," he said.
But that support would be conditional on the Liberals supporting core policies.
The Nationals remain committed to nuclear energy, divestiture powers to pressure big supermarkets against anti-competitive behaviour and a regional investment fund which the Coalition took to the last election.
Senior Liberal James Paterson hoped the Coalition could re-form before the next election.
"It's not in the Liberal Party's interest for us to be fighting the National Party. It's not in the National Party's interest to find any new political opponents," he said.
"We already have to fight the Labor Party, the Greens, and the teals, we are not looking for any other political opponents."
