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Updated ,first published
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s backers are pleading with wavering Liberal MPs to keep her in the job until at least the federal budget in May, with the fate of the Coalition hanging in the balance on Monday evening.
Heat on Nationals leader David Littleproud intensified on Monday before parliament’s return on Tuesday as another poll rattled the Coalition by again showing soaring support for One Nation, after his MPs backed a motion to get back with the Liberals after last month’s fight over frontbench solidarity.
Littleproud lashed out at Ley when announcing the split two weeks ago, saying no Nationals could serve on her frontbench, but on Monday evening at 6pm the pair were meeting to see if they could agree to an unlikely reunion.
The Nationals leader easily survived a leadership contest spurred by rogue MP Colin Boyce on Monday, but his party room backed a motion from MP Darren Chester, one of several credible alternative Nationals leaders, to rejoin a Coalition with the Liberals.
“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,” Chester said, raising hopes among MPs that Littleproud would feel pressured to soften his position and reconcile.
But both Littleproud and Ley have boxed themselves in, with Littleproud taking a hard line on a demand to reinstate the three frontbenchers who resigned last month, which Ley and her party room oppose, and also seeking greater flexibility for Nationals to cross the floor.
Deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan said after the meeting that there was goodwill to reunite but issues remained unresolved and there would be more talks tomorrow including at another Nationals party room meeting.
“That wasn’t agreed tonight,” Hogan said of the reinstatement of the three MPs. “But … it was a good, civil, we made a lot of progress and we’ll have further discussions.”
“Littleproud needs to tank these negotiations to save face. It’s a capitulation if he runs back to the Libs. And if in the next few months the Nats party room hardens in support of rejoining, Chester has put himself in a good position to take Littleproud’s job,” a top Nationals source said.
Ley’s key factional ally Alex Hawke said on Monday that Littleproud was scoring one of the worst own-goals, and influential National Matt Canavan argued the parties must unite immediately.
The Coalition split and leadership chaos in both parties are underpinned partly by the rise of One Nation in recent polling that shows the minor party as competitive with, or leading, the opposition on primary vote intention. Hanson’s party has been teasing more high-profile defections, which may include Liberal senator Alex Antic, former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, and former NT chief minister Adam Giles.
The Liberal leadership contest simplified on Friday when Andrew Hastie announced he would not be running, clearing the path for Angus Taylor. Numbers in the 51-person party room are tight, prompting Ley’s allies to hit the phones over the weekend to urge MPs to stick with Ley.
“She deserves a year in the job,” one senior backer of Ley described as their message to MPs mulling change. That timeframe would take her to around the time of a budget-in-reply speech in May.
Hours after releasing a new policy on cutting red tape, Moderate frontbencher Andrew Bragg said: “I really do think that people will mark us down if we appear to be more like a Days of Our Lives episode than a policy offering machine”.
Addressing an upbeat meeting of the Labor caucus, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese laid into his opponents even as his economic credibility faces a hit if interest rates rise as expected on Tuesday. The government’s legislative agenda is thin this week as Labor allows focus to remain fixed on the opposition’s dire moment.
“Our united caucus … stands in contrast with our opponents because you can’t fight for Australia if you’re obsessed by fighting each other,” he said.
“I note that Married at First Sight begins tonight, and it’s a bit, it’s a bit like that with the relationships on the other side.”
Hawke said on Sky News that it was a sad time for him and his colleagues. “We are saying to the Nationals: ‘Don’t score this own goal. You’ve got the ball, you’ve turned around, you’re aiming at the goal, pull away, kick it to the side, get back with us, and let’s not let this happen’.”
Regional Liberal Dan Tehan has been trying to take the heat out of the Coalition feud by rewriting the Coalition agreement to allow for more flexibility.
“I think we need to look again at the Coalition agreement and see where there are other things that need to be added,” he said on ABC radio.
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Paul Sakkal is chief political correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and has won Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect via X or email.
Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners
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