Does anyone believe that Sussan Ley and David Littleproud are besties again?
Updated ,first published
Sussan Ley and David Littleproud are now 100 per cent united and Anthony Albanese’s RM Williams, who is leading the worst government since the Australian federation, must be shaking.
That was the message from two Coalition party leaders on Sunday, who announced they would meet again to hold the prime minister to account. They insist he has no authority to govern, despite securing a record 94 seats less than 12 months ago.
These are not serious people.
At a joint press conference on Sunday, they dismissed reports of divisions and discord within the opposition over the past three weeks as fake news. Leave aside that these reports are based largely on public comments from both leaders and their bemused supporters.
It was a shame that they could barely look each other in the eye.
It was about as convincing as an aging rock band reuniting for a world tour and insisting they weren’t just doing it for the money.
Nothing was said at Sunday’s joint press conference to give anyone confidence that this meeting would continue.
Littleproud recently adopted the tactic of denying Trump’s statements in black and white, and tried it again on Sunday.
Asked about his January 22 comment that the Nationals could not be part of a shadow ministry under Sussan Ley, he said: “No. It was a warning unless the three of them were reinstated.”
Littleproud gave no such warning when he announced the second split in nine months on Jan. 22, according to a memorandum sent from his office.
“Mr Littleproud, you mention that the Coalition’s position is untenable. Is the Coalition really split?” A journalist asked that day.
Littleproud’s response was, “Yes, there is no other position we are in. Our party room has made it clear that we cannot be part of a Shadow Ministry under Sussan Ley.”
Politicians regularly distort the truth and make debatable claims, but does anyone seriously believe Littleproud’s claim that the split was handled “in the most professional manner from start to finish”?
It would not have been a surprise if he had declared that Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia; 1984 news talk.
Ley, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten the better of the deal and continued to smile like someone who had a lot of practice at pretending everything was okay.
Two days ago the Liberal Party’s allies in the Moderate and Centre-Right factions were briefing journalists that Littleproud’s compromise offer of removing all citizens from the front row for six weeks was not a serious proposal.
It’s fine now.
Ley, who acknowledged that he and Littleproud had disagreements over hate speech legislation that triggered the divide, said the pair had “resolved those differences” and that he “100 per cent” trusts and respects the National Party and its leaders.
To be fair to Ley, he received promises from Littleproud that “the Coalition’s internal processes will be strengthened”, including the inclusion of all shadow ministers in the principle of solidarity. Additionally, no party room will have the power to overturn the decision of the shadow cabinet.
But this is adherence to the rules in force most of the time under which the Coalition has existed in various forms since 1923.
This deal may buy peace between the parties for a while, perhaps even until the next election, but unless something changes dramatically Albanese will be re-elected and One Nation with Pauline Hanson’s anti-immigration message will win new seats.
What was once a powerful political partnership led by the likes of Sir Robert Menzies, John Howard, “Black Jack” McEwen and Tim Fisher has now become a rabble.
James Massola is the chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and Southeast Asia correspondent. He won the Quill and Kennedy awards and was a Walkley finalist. Connect securely to Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect with: X or email.
