Nationals MP Suggests Reuniting Coalition, Calls Previous Split 'Unwise'

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An in-principle agreement to four key policies has paved the way for the Coalition to reunite after their recent split.

The Liberal party room met virtually on Friday, ticking off the demands the Nationals had made before breaking up their political arrangement for the first time in nearly 40 years.

The policies were removing a federal moratorium on nuclear energy, boosting rural phone connectivity, divestiture powers to keep big supermarkets in check and keeping a regional investment fund.

There have been reservations about the policies, including from Liberal free-marketeers who argue divestiture powers represent too much government intervention.

Policy details will still be the subject of negotiations given the Liberals only agreed to in-principle support.

There was a broad consensus a united Opposition was more important than infighting, despite anger at how the Nationals acted when they announced their exit from the Coalition on Tuesday.

The regional party insists it was a policy-driven split and not a power play.

“No matter how they want to dress it up, when our people in the regions are suffering way more than the people in the cities, a few polices that would help them being left on the table isn’t a big ask,” Nationals senator Ross Cadell told the Australian Associated Press.

‘Tongue in cheek’

Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud will now need to bury the hatchet to form a shadow cabinet, which is made up on a proportional basis of MPs from both sides.

The portfolio division is negotiated by the leaders, who then choose their respective representatives.

Finer details of a coalition agreement will also need to be hammered out.

Littleproud’s handling of the saga has led to rumblings about his leadership, but Nationals sources insist only a small cabal is agitating against him.

Asked if he believed Littleproud’s future as leader would be tenable if the Coalition reunited, Nationals MP Michael McCormack — who led the party from 2018 to 2021 — told ABC Canberra on Friday morning: “That would be up to the party room.”

And when questioned if Littleproud would have his full support, McCormack said: “I’m ambitious for him.”

It was the same comment former prime minister Scott Morrison used before he replaced Malcolm Turnbull as Liberal leader in 2018.

Later, McCormack sought to cast it as a “tongue in cheek” remark in an interview with SBS News, saying he supported Littlepround but reiterated that his tenure would be up to the party room.

He didn’t rule out a future leadership tilt, altough added that both he and the majority of the party room supported the Nationals leader “at the moment”.

A split image. On the left is Nationals MP Michael McCormack. On the right is Nationals leader David Littleproud.

Nationals MP Michael McCormack (left) and David Littleproud. Source: AAP

But McCormack was critical of Littleproud’s handling of the split, saying he didn’t “think it was the smartest thing to do” while acknowledging the move was backed by the majority of the party room.

“And the way it’s been gone about in such haste, with such speed, was unfortunate,” he said. “But … in hindsight I’m sure, given the circumstances and what we know now, David might have done things differently.”

Earlier on Friday, Nationals deputy leader Kevin Hogan backed how Littleproud has handled the situation.

“I think he’s done an exceptional job as a leader throughout this process,” he said.

“He brought it to the party room. It was the party room’s decision to do this.”

When asked if he thought Littleproud would remain as leader until the next election, Hogan said: “I have no doubt he will be.”

— With the Australian Associated Press.