Nationals Leader David Littleproud easily saw off a token move to spill the party leadership on Monday. But he is now under immense pressure to reach a deal with Liberal leader Sussan Ley to put the Coalition together again.
With talks scheduled for Monday night, Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan flagged reunification as a top priority, proposing codifying the arrangements for future behaviour, with a mechanism to resolve disputes.
Littleproud split the Coalition after Ley sacked three Nationals frontbenchers who crossed the floor on the hate legislation, breaking shadow cabinet solidarity. Nationals sources said reinstating the three was a condition of a deal.
Ley’s numbers man, frontbencher Alex Hawke, delivered a strong call for Littleproud to return his party into a coalition with the Liberals.
Hawke told Sky: “We are urging him not to break the Coalition, because it will be the biggest own goal. It will be bigger, or as big, as the DLP split in the Labor Party [in the 1950s].
“If there’s any chance or prospect of turning away from this [divided] course, David Littleproud needs to turn away from scoring the biggest own goal of all time in the centre-right of Australian politics.”
The unsuccessful spill motion at the Nationals meeting came from backbencher Colin Boyce, a strong critic of how Littleproud handled events leading to the Coalition’s split that happened less than a fortnight ago. Boyce knew his motion would not succeed but wanted to make a point.
The meeting carried a motion moved by Victorian MP Darren Chester, to authorise the Nationals leadership team “to negotiate in good faith” and urgently with the Liberals’ leadership to re-establish “a Coalition for the duration of the 48th Federal Parliament”.
Chester said later, “After a very constructive discussion my motion was overwhelmingly supported because it’s in the best interests of the nation for the Coalition to reform and hold this government to account. I hope the negotiations are successful.”
A deal would strengthen Ley’s position in the short term against defence spokesman Angus Taylor, undermining any argument he might mount that only a change of leadership could reunite the Coalition.
Littleproud initially said his shadow ministers – who all quit after the three were sacked – could not serve in a Ley shadow ministry.
Hawke dismissed this as “a moment of anger. I haven’t heard him repeat that claim.”
Not all Liberals are anxious for a quick rapprochement, believing the party can better appeal to inner city voters if not tied to the Nationals.
The pressure on Littleproud to re-form the Coalition has been increased by a Redbridge poll in the Australian Financial Review showing One Nation polling 26%, well ahead of the Liberals and Nationals combined on 19%.
One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce on Monday flagged the party would announce on Tuesday a high profile recruit defecting from another party.
If the Coalition re-forms this would be the second time since the election. The post-election split was also brief.
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