David Littleproud resigns as Nationals leader
Updated ,first published
David Littleproud has resigned as leader of the National Party after a damaging split with the Liberal Party left key supporters losing confidence in his leadership, opening up a wide field of candidates to take control of the struggling national party.
In a surprise announcement after question period that stunned close colleagues, Littleproud revealed he lacked energy but no regrets over his party’s loss of support to One Nation, comparing himself to famed Nationals leader Jack ‘Black’ McEwen.
“I’m bored and fed up,” Littleproud said at a press conference in Parliament House on Tuesday, flanked by his wife, Amelia.
“It would be wrong for me to say that I’m the right person to continue to lead. It’s hard for me to say that. I think someone better could do it because I don’t have the energy.”
Nationals will hold a party room meeting tomorrow at 10:00.
Senator Matt Canavan will challenge the party’s leadership and said: “I believe I have the best chance of helping win the fight for an Australia first plan that can deliver a better life for all Australians.”
The source said Bridget McKenzie would be up for it, while Littleproud’s deputy Kevin Hogan and former leader Michael McCormack were also a chance.
Canavan had run for the leadership before and received only a handful of votes, mostly from the right wing of the National Party, which had previously been loyal to Joyce. It has expanded its voting bloc in recent months. Canavan’s challenge will be to win over enough of Littleproud’s more moderate party allies who may be more inclined to support Hogan or McCormack; Both can be considered safer hands.
Littleproud will continue to serve as the member for Maranoa, so her departure from the leadership will not result in another by-election for the Coalition, as it did in Sussan Ley’s previous seat.
This imprint reported last week that at least two key MPs who had previously voted for Littleproud had made clear to colleagues that they believed Littleproud had seriously damaged the party during its split with the Liberals in January (his second this term) and that he would not be able to remain leader in the long term.
The 49-year-old from regional Queensland still retained majority support and was not challenged by an imminent leadership threat. But rivals were rallying support in anticipation of a leadership change, particularly Canavan, who has become more disciplined in recent months and has offered to return to the front row.
MPs had been monitoring how the National Party was performing in the regional NSW seat of Farrer before Ley entered parliament. In an interview with this masthead Inside Politics Following last week’s podcast, which raised eyebrows among the Coalition frontbenchers, Littleproud said he expected his party to come in last.
“I will serve this great party, this great Coalition, in the way they want me to, but my time as leader is over. I’ve done everything I can and want to do,” Littleproud said, explaining that Labor’s weeks-long row with the Liberals over hate crime laws had taken its toll.
“It’s time for me to feel normal again. It’s been a pretty rough road since the election.”
Former National Party and now One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, who disagreed with Littleproud, told this imprint on Tuesday that his former colleague was not at the National Party’s candidate announcement in Farrer last week and was instead in his own constituency where One Nation’s vote has increased.
“He was at the Apple and Grape Festival in Stanthorpe instead [in Littleproud’s electorate of Maranoa]”This shows that he, too, has concerns about the fate of his constituents,” Joyce said.
“It’s not an aberration that the One Nation vote has increased. It’s certainly not an aberration in Maranoa. To say that if David’s management style had been a little bit different, the Nats wouldn’t be in the position they’re in, in my opinion, would be disingenuous.”
Littleproud and his allies have repeatedly pointed out that the Coalition has strengthened the status of its junior partner by making policy gains in recent years on breaking up supermarkets, building nuclear power plants and lowering its net-zero emissions target.
These policies appealed to conservative voters in the region and the right-wing membership base of the Coalition parties, but were unsuccessful in last May’s election as the National Party failed to win any new seats.
Since the election, voters have moved away from the Coalition and switched to One Nation in many polls, including this imprint’s Resolute Political Monitor, leaving the regional party in an existential stalemate.
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Paul Sakkal is the chief political correspondent. He has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect with: X or email.
Brittany Busch is the federal politics correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
