Nats split from Libs after night of crisis meetings
The Nationals are again walking away from the Coalition, saying they can no longer serve in Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s shadow ministry.
The Nationals are again walking away from the Coalition, saying they can no longer serve in Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s shadow ministry.
Nationals leader David Littleproud made the announcement in Brisbane early on Thursday, following a night of crisis for the Coalition parties.
“There’s no other position. Our party room has made it clear that we cannot be part of a shadow ministry under Sussan Ley,” he said.
“She has … forced the Coalition into an untenable position that can no longer continue. This is not what the National Party want. But I cannot stand by and have three courageous senators who put their jobs on the line for no reason that has any veracity whatsoever, to be disrespected and our party, and our party’s process and our decisions.”
It follows the Nationals’ mass resignations from Ley’s shadow cabinet on Wednesday, after she accepted the resignations of three senators earlier that day in a spat over hate speech laws.
Ley rejected the “unnecessary” resignations, and in a statement said she had strongly urged Littleproud not to walk away from the Coalition.
You might like
It is the second time since the 2025 federal election the Coalition has been on the brink, after a brief divorce between the political parties last May.
Nationals senators Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald resigned from their portfolios on Wednesday after breaching cabinet solidarity, a principle that requires shadow ministers to all vote the same way.
McKenzie said it had been made clear to Ley what would happen if she accepted the three initial resignations.
“She made that decision knowing what the consequences would be, and you’ve seen that play out,” she said in Canberra.
“We’ve all made it very, very clear that we are coalitionists.
“This is a decision for Sussan Ley, and that is obviously something that she’s going to have to be considering.”
Stay informed, daily
On Thursday, Littleproud said said he had informed Ley of the party’s decision.
“I spoke to Sussan Ley about half an hour ago and made her fully aware,” he said.
“I gave her an opportunity yesterday when there was a party room meeting … that is this would be the consequence that they were going down, that we would all resign and that you would then see an untenable position. We had the conversation.
“She … still would not move on reinstating the three senators.”
The extraordinary rift between the two Coalition partners was triggered by a disagreement over the government’s anti-hate laws drawn up in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.
The Coalition’s shadow cabinet agreed to back the bill during a meeting on Sunday, but two days later the Nationals announced they would oppose it because of concerns about its potential impact on free speech.
The temporary split in May 2025 was triggered by demands from the rural party, including an ongoing commitment to nuclear power and a pledge to introduce forced divestiture powers for the supermarket sector.
The two parties reunited after a week, but insiders believe the next separation has the potential to last much longer.
-with AAP
