Opposition leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud have spelt out conflicting deal-breakers in their ongoing discussions over a Coalition reunion, as the Liberal leader described a challenge to her leadership from defence spokesperson Angus Taylor as media-generated and “ridiculous”.
Ley and Littleproud are planning to meet on Wednesday, a day after Littleproud ignored repeated requests to meet with Ley and rejected an offer from the Liberal leader to reunite the Coalition. Despite disagreements over the nationals’ demands to reinstate three senators to the frontbench, both leaders claim negotiations are proceeding in good faith.
In several media appearances on Wednesday morning, Ley said she was ready to reunite the Coalition this week under three conditions: Nationals senators Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald remain relegated to the backbench for six-months; that the decisions of shadow cabinet and the joint Coalition party room carry greater weight than individual part room decisions; and that shadow cabinet solidarity remains enshrined in the Coalition agreement.
“I had constructive, good-faith discussions with the leader of the Nationals on Monday night and I expect to speak again today. The Coalition can re-form this week with conditions that are supported by the overwhelming majority of my party room,” Ley told journalists at Parliament House in Canberra.
“I’m not going to make an ongoing commentary about what we may or may not say in subsequent discussions. I have read reports in the media, but I take the leader of the Nationals in good faith that they are considering the conditions that we have provided and we expect to speak later today.”
The Coalition formally split on January 22, for the second time since last May’s election, after the three National frontbenchers crossed the floor on hate speech legislation in the Senate, offered their resignations from shadow cabinet.
Ley has repeatedly signalled that she is keen to see the Coalition reunite, but has given an ultimatum to Littleproud that if the parties do not make amends by Sunday she will appoint a full Liberal frontbench, precipitating a longer split.
However, the position from the Liberals that the three Nationals senators remain on the backbench appears has been roundly rejected by the Nationals. Speaking to journalists at Parliament House, Littleproud said the senators “were sacked when they shouldn’t have been” and that if the issue was not rectified the parties could not work together.
“Now I don’t particularly care what you think of me, but we’re not a division of the Liberal Party. We have our own rights to have our own thought process. Otherwise, why are we here? Why would we be here? Do we just have to be subservient on every decision?” Littleproud told journalists.
The leader said his party “respects process” but the Nationals were not given appropriate time to scrutinise hate speech legislation put forward by the government last month in response to the Bondi shooting and were not going to be compelled to vote in line with the Liberal Party.
The Nationals were meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss Ley’s demands. Littleproud repeatedly brushed off questions from the media about the detail of negotiations, saying he didn’t think it was “constructive to ruminate this in the public domain”.
In a lengthy doorstop interview, Littleproud told journalists they did not have a sophisticated understanding of the National Party.
“Say what you want about us, but until you understand us, be careful about what you write because you don’t understand exactly how the National Party operates, the values and principles.”
Amid the negotiations over the Coalition’s reformation, Ley has faced repeated questioning over the security of her position. Prominent party conservatives including Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor held a private meeting in Melbourne last week in which the leadership was discussed. Following the meeting, Hastie publicly announced he would not be imminently challenging the leadership, giving clear air for a move by Taylor.
Asked the challenge Ley said claims Taylor was plotting to replace her were “ridiculous suggestions” generated by the media. “They’re not the conversations that I’m having with colleagues, and they are not the focus of my team, and I really mean that,” Ley told ABC News on Wednesday morning.
“Every minute that somebody starts talking about these issues … we don’t have the opportunity to prosecute the really important case that we want to make.” Ley said she had spoken with Taylor about policy issues, but did not say whether they discussed the party leadership.
Hastie and a group of mostly conservative Liberals including Tony Pasin and Ben Small voted with the Nationals on amendments to the governments draught bear excise on Wednesday.
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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
