Australian news and politics live updates: National Party splits with Libs, ending Coalition

The Liberal Party say the decision of the Nationals to split the Coalition is “disappointing”.

In a joint statement, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and other senior Liberal figures said that its door “remains open to the Nationals should they wish to rejoin the Coalition before the next election”.

They said it had been explained to the Nationals that the Liberal Party’s review of election policies was “not an indication that any of them would be abandoned, nor that every single one would be adopted”.

“We asked the National Party to work constructively with us ... in good faith, the Liberals proposed appointing a Coalition shadow ministry now, with seperate policy development in each party room, and subsequent joint policy positions determined in the usual way,” they said.

“Unfortunately, the Nationasl determined this was not possible.”

The statement also claims that the Nationals could not explicitly agree to the Liberals’ insistence that shadow cabinet solidarity be maintained in a Coalition agreement.

WA Labor Premier Roger Cook has described the Federal Coalition’s breakup as “extraordinary”.

Speaking to media in Perth on Tuesday, Mr Cook said the Federal Liberals and Nationals were turning their backs on voters who wanted parties to be more mainstream.

“It seems that the Nationals have unhitched themselves so that they can become further unhinged and simply make their way further to the extremes of our political spectrum,” he said.

“This is a time for the Coalition to reflect, reflect on the reason why mainstream Australia turned their back on them.

“My understanding is one of the key sticking points is that the nationals are rusted onto this idea of the nuclear power fantasy, and so it’s complete bonkers.

“I can’t believe that they’ve made this decision. What we want is our mainstream political parties to come back to the mainstream, to come back to the centre.”

The Federal move mirrors the two parties’ set-up in WA, where there has not been a formal coalition agreement between the Liberals and the Nationals for decades.

“They’ve got a burden of responsibility to provide effective opposition and it seems that the Nationals believe that that responsibility is too onerous, so they’d rather just go off into the fringes of the political landscape,” Mr Cook said.

Shane Love has warned the Nationals and Liberal party are headed down the path of self-destruction if they waste resources fighting each other.

But the WA Nationals leader was optimistic that the two parties could join forces again in future.

“I know David Littleproud enough to know that he’s not going to go down a path which leads to self destruction,” Mr Love said.

“The Nationals know that if they’re going to be in government, it’s going to be with the Liberal Party.

“What this actual breathing space does is to ensure they’re not fighting each other within the Coalition.”

Mr Love said the split of the Federal Coalition would not impact the State Opposition, after the Liberals won seven seats and the Nationals’ six in the March election.

Liberal and Nationals MP’s in State Parliament operate as an alliance but Mr Love and Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas are still ironing out details of a formal agreement.

“My anticipation is that we should have that all nailed down by the end of this year,” Mr Love said.

“In fact, I would say that the events of today make it even more important.”

Ex-prime minister John Howard believes the Coalition split is bad news, insisting the Liberals the Nationals are stronger together.

“I’m naturally, as a strong Coalitionist, I’m very concerned about today developments and I hope the two parties continue to talk to eachother, and I hope that Coalition is reformed well before the next election,” Mr Howard told The Australian.

“The best interest of the two parties is served by being in Coalition and they are strongest politically and policy wise when both parties have been together.

“There have always been some policy differences, there is nothing new about that.

“It’s important that the policy differences be resolved or accommodated within the framework of a Coalition.

“If we go our separate ways, those issues will harden and become greater.”

Mr Howard said that in 1996, after a landslide victory, some within his own party wanted the Liberals to govern on its own.

“A few Liberals wanted to do that and I said no,” he said.

“I said no because I realised that we would need the partnership of the National Party after the following election and, of course, we did as we lost a lot of seats in 1998.

“I hope they continue talking and hope they reform a coalition as soon as possible.

“The idea that it will naturally come back tighter should not be entertained.”

The Nationals’ decision to blow up the Coalition was in part because the smaller party wanted to sit within the shadow cabinet but not be bound to solidarity rules, Liberal sources say.

They suggested that the Nationals wanted to be able to have the ability to cross the floor on issues such as net zero.

There was also residual anger within the Nationals over Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s defection to the Liberal Party.

Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie denied Senator Price’s defection had anything to do with the decision, saying: “This isn’t about soured views or otherwise.”

As to whether demands for frontbench freedom had factored into the decision, Senator McKenzie said the request had been around the four policies.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley was given a 30-minute heads up by Nationals leader David Littleproud that the junior party would not be re-entering a coalition agreement if the Liberals could not agree to a number of policy demands.

Liberal sources say that there ultimately would have been consensus on nuclear power, divestiture powers, a regional future fund and regional infrastructure.

But the party wanted the time and space to go through the policy review processes required.

Ms Ley has convened a virtual party room meeting for this afternoon.

In the wake of the Nationals calling it quits on the Coalition, former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack has slammed the Liberals as undisciplined, accusing them of spilling secrets over red wine to reporters.

Holding a press conference in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday shortly after leader David Littleproud revealed that the party would axe the agreement after nearly 80 years, the Riverina MP said change was needed.

“It’s time for discipline. It’s time for the parties to regroup and to rework,” Mr McCormack said.

“Members of some political parties will do well to learn … to not go and brief and background journalists anonymously.

“There’s nothing good comes of it. It’s bad for democracy. It’s bad for the Coalition and it’s bad for Australia.

“You’re only ever two or three red wines (away) for that journalist … to tell who said what and when and how.

“You don’t see too many National Party members quoted in newspapers, anonymously.

“Unfortunately, you do see a few Liberal members, a few too many.

“And I’ve said that. It’s no secret.

“If you’re going to have something to say, do it like I am. Put your name to it. Have the gut, the gumption and the guts to put your name to it.

“I loved journalists. I was a journalist. You know, you play an important part in democracy.

“But if you’re going to have your say, do so in front of the press pack and put your name to it. It’s not difficult.”

Riverina MP Michael McCormack says the Nationals “deserves respect” after holding their seats in a diabolical election for the Liberal Party.

Speaking in Wagga Wagga in the wake of his party’s rift from the Coalition agreement, the former deputy prime minister said that he didn’t believe their “city cousins” had “that same work ethic” as National MPs.

“We do deserve the respect. We do deserve the respect of the fact that we have won all of our seats,” he said.

“We’ve been able to transition those seats. I mean, the Liberals have lost seats in this election.

“They have a lot of soul searching to do but the work.

“The trouble is, and I’ve said it … I’m not saying anything new. I don’t know whether our city cousins always have that same work ethic.

“And it’s one thing to go into a new studio in Sydney or Melbourne and talk in those echo chambers, but it’s another thing to actually do the work on the ground.

“We’ve taken to the Liberal Party those four important policy areas. They weren’t guaranteed.”

Former Victoria Liberal president Micheal Kroger has been the latest to question why the National Party were so swift to walk away from the Coalition agreement.

Mr Kroger acknowledged the historic break-up of the Coalition after nearly 80 years but accused the party of being hasty in its call.

“I just think it’s a bit surprising that (the Nationals) would do this so quickly. I’m not sure what the hurry is to make this decision,” he told Sky News.

“I mean, this Coalition dates back … more than 100 years ago. I just wonder what the hurry was.

“It’s only two weeks since the Federal election. We know, Sussan Ley has had the great tragedy with her mother passing away.

“And I just wonder why the National Party were in such a hurry.

“Obviously, there are reasons for this but I would have thought the better course of action would be to stick with the Coalition that’s served Australia well and work through the policy differences over the next few months.

“I’m not sure why it’s necessary to have a breach at this time.”

Liberal leader Sussan Ley was alerted just 30 minutes prior that the Coalition was splitting.

The Australian reports that this was despite the Nationals being told that key policy demands would likely all be agreed to by the Liberals.

Ms Ley could not agree to the Nationals’ leaders demands that his shadow cabinet ministers be granted the right to a free vote and oppose the Liberals on issues including net zero emissions by 2050.

It was reported that Mr Littleproud had been assured that that while the Liberals would conduct a review, it was likely there would be no major splits between the parties on nuclear energy, divestiture laws, the $20bn regional future fund and regional communications.

It’s the political story of the day - the Nats sensationally splitting from the Libs after so many decades together.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has pointed to a breakdown in negotiations with Liberal Leader Sussan Ley over nuclear, divestuture powers, a Regional Australia Future Fund, and rural and regional mobile phone coverage.

It comes after a disastrous Federal election, leaving both parties with a lot of soul searching to do.