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The federal Coalition is on the brink of a permanent split, with Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s office confirming her Nationals counterpart David Littleproud had not agreed to her list of demands to reunite the parties.
On Monday, the opposition leader said the warring parties could rejoin if three senators – Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald – were suspended from the frontbench for six months and if the Nationals reaffirmed the long-established principle of shadow cabinet solidarity.
But even as party elders and former leaders, including John Howard and John Anderson, urged the Coalition parties to reunite, the prospect of a reunion appeared to be receding on Friday as Liberal sources close to the negotiations said they were getting mixed messages from the Nationals.
Ley had set a deadline of 9am Friday for a response from the Nationals on her proposal. After consulting his colleagues, Littleproud sent a letter in response to the offer soon after the deadline passed.
A senior source in the Liberal Party said Littleproud’s letter rejected Ley’s proposed six-month suspension call and also said that a three-month suspension, which some MPs believed was a good compromise option, was not even raised.
“It was basically a non-acceptance of the suspension, there is something in there about a two-week collective ban [for all Nationals frontbenchers, who resigned after McKenzie, Cadell and McDonald’s resignations were accepted] but really they are just dragging out negotiations,” the source said.
“It is not being treated as a serious [counter]offer. And yes, negotiations are not going well.”
A Nationals source, who asked not to be named so they could speak freely, said the letter had suggested extending the deadline for negotiations between the two parties until the end of February.
Another Nationals source, however, said the more important point was that the party’s MPs acted collectively and that all of them should be banished from the shadow ministry for the same period of time, not just the three senators who crossed the floor on Labor’s hate speech legislation.
Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said on Friday afternoon that “there was always hope” for reconciliation while the two parties were still talking.
“The Australian public look to us as the alternative parties of government.”
Ley’s leadership rival Angus Taylor said in an interview with radio station 2GB that he clearly had leadership ambitions and “that’s why I ran for the leadership last time around, and many in our party room do and I think ambition is a good thing. But most of all, what we all want is a better Liberal Party and a better Coalition, and we need that fast.”
Asked if he supported Ley’s leadership, he said that if he didn’t: “the first person I’d be telling is Sussan”.
He conceded that he had discussed the “position” the Coalition was in over leadership speculation with Ley, but did not detail their conversations, saying only that they spoke all the time.
Littleproud has insisted that the rebel senators be reinstated to their shadow ministries, and has sought greater flexibility for MPs to cross the floor.
“The Coalition can reform this week with conditions that are supported by the overwhelming majority of my party room,” Ley said on Wednesday.
The Liberal leader is planning to name new Liberal MPs to her frontbench on Sunday if a reconciliation with the Nationals cannot be achieved.
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. The senators offered their resignations, and Ley accepted them, after the trio voted against the government’s hate speech bill in January, breaking with a shadow cabinet decision to vote for the measures. However, the Nationals dispute that a shadow cabinet position was reached.
The prospect of reunification has steadily receded this week as both leaders have dug in their heels. Littleproud’s party room backed a motion this week calling for an end to the split, but the leaders have failed to come to an agreement.
Queensland senator James McGrath, who is a member of the state’s Liberal National Party and sits with the Liberals, made a last-ditch plea on Thursday night, saying the former Coalition partners were stronger together.
“For the sake of Australia … I hope, and I pray, and I beg that the Coalition is reformed,” he said on the floor of the Senate.
High-profile Liberal moderate Jane Hume, who was dumped from the frontbench by Ley after the election, could be lifted straight back into the shadow cabinet.
On Seven’s Sunrise on Friday morning, Hume said: “The Liberal Party can do this on its own, because we need to fight the Labor Party, who have let Australians down.”
Repeatedly asked about whether the Liberals would go it alone, Hume said: “We’re talking to our Coalition partners – our former Coalition partners – because let’s face it, we’re better in Coalition with the National Party, but the Liberal Party can do this on its own. Do not, do not be under any illusions that we can’t.”
Right-winger Phil Thompson – who, like McGrath, is an LNP member but sits with the Liberals – is also tipped to go into the shadow cabinet, while Cameron Caldwell, Simon Kennedy and Aaron Violi are in line for promotions.
The Liberal-only opposition holds 28 seats in the House – the same number as the crossbench, while Labor has 94 seats.
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James Massola is chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and South-East Asia correspondent. He has won Quill and Kennedy awards and been a Walkley finalist. Connect securely on Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect via X or email.
Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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