National Party Leaders, David Littleproud (second from left) and Senator Bridget McKenzie confirm "reasonable request" that was denied caused the coalition split. Photo / Getty Images
National Party Leaders, David Littleproud (second from left) and Senator Bridget McKenzie confirm "reasonable request" that was denied caused the coalition split. Photo / Getty Images
The Coalition has split after the Nationals and Liberals failed to agree on a partnership.
David Littleproud said the Nationals will not re-enter a Coalition agreement with the Liberals.
Bridget McKenzie cited divestiture powers, nuclear power, and a $20 billion regional fund as key issues.
The Coalition has split after agreement talks broke down, with one senior party leader revealing the refused “reasonable request” that sparked the chaos.
David Littleproud has confirmed the Nationals and Liberals have failed to lock in a partnership agreement, making it only the fourth time the Coalition arrangement has beenbreached.
Fronting media on Tuesday, the Nationals Leader said his party had reached “a position where we will not be re-entering a Coalition agreement with the Liberal Party after this election”.
“The National Party will sit alone on a principle basis,” Littleproud said.
“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.
“It’s on a principle position of making sure that those hard-fought wins are maintained and respected, we continue to look forward.”
The party’s leader in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie, suggested a breakdown over support for policies that had been backed in the previous Coalition agreement was to blame for the drastic move.
“A reasonable request was put to a trusted partner and it was refused,” she said.
“Policies that we had fought for, that only a few weeks ago, we fought an election on.”
Senator McKenzie said divestiture powers, nuclear power, its proposed regional Australia fund and telecoms coverage were key areas the Nationals could not walk away from.
“Why in this day and age, we think that antitrust laws are so onerous, it beggars belief. If supermarkets and big box retailers misuse their market power, just like in the UK and the USA, they should be subjected to divestiture,” she said.
“Nuclear power – why in this day and age, as an industrial power we should not avail ourselves of the backyard we have of uranium, just like the UK, just like the USA, just like France, to provide a reliable, sustainable, affordable, low emission energy source into the next century – way beyond 2050?
“And why we should walk away from a Regional Australia Future Fund of $20 billion that was designed to assist the regions to overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities that the next two and a half decades are going to be felt in our communities.”
Littleproud said he had shared the decision with Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley, and that the parties would remain on good terms.
Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley and deputy Ted O’Brien will remain on good terms with Littleproud and the Nationals despite the disagreement. Photo / Getty Images
“I had a respectful conversation with Sussan Ley this morning, sat down, made it very clear that we remain committed to having the door open, respecting the position that Sussan has been put in – that she is a leader that needs to rebuild the Liberal Party,” he said.
“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.
“We’ll be pragmatic, and we’ll work constructively with Sussan and her team to make sure that we bring down the Albanese Government after the next election.”
Relations between the parties have been under severe strain since the federal election, when the Nationals held their lower house seats while the Liberal vote collapsed.
At the time of writing, the Liberal Party held 18 seats in the House of Representatives, while the Queensland LNP held 16 and the Nationals, who retained all their seats, hold nine.
LNP members – of which David Littleproud is one – pick their party rooms at the federal level.
Post-Coalition split, the LNP divvy-up gave the Liberal Party 28 seats and the National Party 15.
It was revealed in the election post-mortem that the Liberals did not consult their National Party colleagues on key policies before announcing them.
The Nationals have also blamed the senior Coalition partner for costing them their former deputy leader, Perin Davey.
Davey ran on a joint Liberal ticket that dragged down her vote.
But Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defecting to the Liberal Party room earlier this month pushed tensions to the brink.
Littleproud said the Nationals would work with their partner traditional partners “when the Liberals decide what they want to be and much of the capital cities that they want to be able to be prosecuting their case in”.
“My job is not to be a drag on their boat and I’ve got to say, I never saw a billboard, I never saw a piece of material from the Labor Party attacking me, or the National Party at the last election,” he said.
“The National Party didn’t drag anyone’s vote down in the capital city because we’re able to focus on the things that are important to us.”
A joint statement from NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman and NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders confirmed the split would not affect the state’s Coalition agreement.
“In NSW the Liberals and Nationals enjoy a strong working relationship,” it read.
