Reunion on ice as Nationals leadership spill looms
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is pushing for talks to reconvene the National Party following its extraordinary dissolution, but the meeting will not take place immediately due to the impending dissolution of the leadership.
In a letter to Liberal colleagues on Wednesday, Ms Ley said she wanted a meeting “without any preconditions and on a priority basis” with National Party leader David Littleproud and other senior party officials.
The opposition leader said it was in the national interest to maintain “a strong and working relationship between the two parties, regardless of whether they are in a formal coalition”.
Liberal sources told AAP Ms Ley still held out hope of uniting the coalition following last week’s messy divorce.
But if a meeting between leaders takes place, it will not be until next week at the earliest because Mr Littleproud faces a looming challenge to his leadership.
Mr Littleproud said in a statement on Wednesday night that a time would be scheduled to meet Ms Ley “once the leak motion has been determined at our party room meeting”.
This meeting is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Mr Littleproud said it was important to “respect the process” of the leadership leak.
Ms Ley said the Liberals would “talk to whoever the Nationals choose as leader, because it is our responsibility to hold the Albanian government to account whether we are in a coalition or not.”
Queensland Nationals MP Colin Boyce has announced he will challenge Mr Littleproud for the leadership of the party when politicians return to Canberra next week.
“The National Party is committing political suicide by withdrawing itself from the coalition,” he told Sky News.
“If (my colleagues) continue down the path they’re on now, we’re going over the political cliff.”
But insiders believe the bid to unseat Mr Littleproud is unlikely to succeed because the rogue MP does not have the numbers.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who previously challenged Mr Littleproud for the party’s top job, said the attempt to oust his leader was a surprise.
“This was news to me,” he told AAP.
“I will not support the leak. I think it’s time for cooler heads to prevail.”
The former cabinet minister also raised hopes for reunification between the Liberals and Nationals.
“Everyone wants to see us get back together,” he said.
“The disagreement we had last week is a thing of the past.”
Other citizens struck a more defiant tone in the wake of the division triggered by a dispute over hate speech laws.
In a video posted on social media on Wednesday evening, Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie declared that the party would “never stand by our principles”.
“It doesn’t matter who we are or what we do,” he said.
Mr Littleproud defended his time as leader, saying the party retained all its seats in the lower house at the last election.
“I stand by my record as leader of The Nationals and what our partyroom has achieved, doing important policy work and advocating for regional, rural and remote Australia,” he said in a statement.
