Nationals Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell, Susan McDonald set to resign from frontbench after hate speech law split with Coalition
Updated ,first published
The coalition was left in tatters after Nationals leader David Littleproud and the entire party’s front line united with the departure of three rebel MPs who broke shadow cabinet solidarity and made a bombshell threat to Ley on a dramatic day.
Triggering one of the biggest crises in Conservative politics for a generation, Littleproud and eight National candidates left Ley’s front row on Wednesday evening after the opposition leader accepted the resignations of three rebel Nationals earlier in the day.
This imprint has obtained a letter sent to Ley by Littleproud on Wednesday morning, saying Ley had the right to sack Bridget McKenzie, Susan McDonald and Ross Cadell, who left the Liberals to vote against the government’s bill to crack down on hate groups.
However, in his letter, Littleproud argued that Ley should have refrained from doing so because the legislative process was too rushed and the shadow cabinet never signed a final bill; this was a claim that the Liberals strongly disputed.
“If these resignations are accepted, the entire National Party ministry will resign to take collective responsibility,” Littleproud wrote in a hand-signed letter to Ley.
“It was a party room decision to oppose this bill. The entire National Party shadow ministry is equally committed”.
Hours after Littleproud’s letter, Ley accepted the resignations with the full support of right-wing Liberal power brokers including Michaelia Cash, James Paterson and Jonno Duniam.
National MPs then met at 6pm on Wednesday and decided to carry out the threat, leading to Littleproud and MP Kevin Hogan and others also leaving the front bench.
This staggering move will almost inevitably lead to the dissolution of the Coalition, which is likely to last longer than the brief split after the May election.
After weeks of pressure on Labor over its flat-footed response to the Bondi massacre, several days of tortuous debate over hate speech laws have torn the Coalition apart and plunged it into a new crisis, with polls showing One Nation attracting support from the right wing of the opposition.
The joint Liberal-National shadow cabinet struck an agreement in principle on Sunday to support Labour’s crackdown on hate groups as long as it is changed in line with the Coalition’s demands.
That agreement began to unravel on Monday, when Nationals backer Matt Canavan, who often sets his Coalition partner’s agenda, launched a campaign against the bill over concerns it would target mainstream religious and political groups.
After voting against hate speech laws, the frontrunners sent resignation letters to Ley on Wednesday morning, admitting they had breached convention as shadow ministers to toe the party line, as first reported by this imprint.
Liberal sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ley repeatedly told Littleproud before the vote that MPs should stick to the agreed position.
But Ley, under pressure to prove he could impose discipline, said hours later on Wednesday afternoon that he had accepted the resignations and that “shadow cabinet solidarity is not optional”.
“This is the basis of serious opposition and credible government.”
“I made it clear to David Littleproud that members of the shadow cabinet could not vote against the shadow cabinet position. The shadow cabinet then unanimously approved this bill, subject to various amendments which we secured.”
One leading Liberal said: “Littleproud means threatening to pull the National Party from the front row while also saying privately that he hopes the Coalition stays together. It’s an absurd position.”
Having failed in the polls, Ley decided to leave the frontbenchers with the full support of right-wing Liberal power brokers such as Michaelia Cash, James Paterson and Jonno Duniam. Duniam and Ley persuaded right-wing Liberals such as Andrew Hastie to support hate crimes legislation that would make visa cancellations easier and allow hate groups such as neo-Nazis and radical Islamists to be banned.
Even Ley’s critics in the Liberal Party supported his stance against the National Party on Wednesday, expressing particular anger at Littleproud for failing to bring his party to a consistent position on the legislation.
But the long-term consequences for Ley could still be devastating if the wounds inflicted by resignations, or the more damaging Coalition split, further erode Ley’s position and spark a leadership challenge by Hastie or Angus Taylor, who missed parliamentary week because he was on holiday in Europe.
One Liberal noted that several Liberal frontbenchers in the city wanted to vote in favor of Labor’s gun restrictions but voted against the legislation in line with Coalition policy; It’s an example the National Party cannot emulate against the backdrop of backlash among online free expression advocates.
The extent of libertarian/far-right discontent with Labour’s policies was evident in the social media feed of right-wing darling Andrew Hastie, whose posts were flooded with messages encouraging votes for the law-breaking One Nation.
“We’re not afraid to do it again,” Nationals shortstop Anne Webster said of a split Wednesday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong took advantage of the tension to pose a leadership test for Ley.
“There is a very important question for Susan Ley right now. The shadow cabinet decided to support this legislation, but the shadow cabinet members voted against it. Will she enforce the convention that people who vote against the shadow cabinet position, the shadow cabinet members have to resign, or will she ignore it?” said Wong.
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Paul Sakkal is the chief political correspondent. It has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect with: excitement or email.
