David Littleproud confirms Coalition split, says Nationals cannot serve under Sussan Ley
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The news: National leader David Littleproud has declared his party cannot serve in the shadow cabinet under Liberal leader Sussan Ley, confirming a second Coalition split within a year.
The context: Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Littleproud accused Ley of placing the Coalition in an “untenable position” after requiring the Nationals to vote through rushed hate speech laws on Tuesday.
“[Ley] has also forced the Coalition into an untenable position that can no longer continue. This is not what the National Party wants,” Littleproud said.
“This process wasn’t all Sussan Ley’s fault. Anthony Albanese put her in this process, but it has been mismanaged by Sussan Ley.”
Littleproud insisted the Nationals were “not far off” backing the bill, but could not back it after the Senate rejected its bid to have the laws referred to a parliamentary inquiry.
That triggered the resignation of three Nationals frontbenchers who voted against the laws in the Senate, which Ley accepted on Wednesday. But Ley attempted to reject the mass resignation of all Nationals frontbenchers that evening, claiming they were “unnecessary”.
Littleproud stressed Nationals were “not offering a resignation for her to accept or not, we are tendering our resignation”.
“The National Party is our own sovereign party, and Sussan Ley cannot force us to vote one way or another,” Littleproud said.
“Unfortunately, Sussan Ley has ignored that … [but] will not reinstate those three senators to the shadow cabinet positions.”
Less than an hour before Littleproud spoke, Ley urged the Nationals leader not to do any press appearances on Thursday, an official day of mourning for the Bondi terror attack victims.
“Today the focus must be on Jewish Australians, indeed all Australians, as we mourn the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack,” Ley said in a statement.
Littleproud said he spoke on Thursday morning to ensure that “later this evening, we can pause to remember the tragedy”.
What they said: “There was an out yesterday to not accept these three [Senate] resignations,” Littleproud said.
“[Ley] was aware of the consequences if she did [accept them], that the National Party was being forced into an untenable position around the Coalition and she still made that decision. This is not what we wanted.”
