Ley left hanging after demands to reform Coalition blindside MPs in both parties

Nationals leader David Littleproud has left Opposition Leader Sussan Ley hanging after she made a final offer to avoid a long-term Coalition split, with both Nationals and Liberal frontbenchers saying they were blindsided by Ley’s requests.

The prospects of a reconciliation between the warring parties are diminishing after the Nationals reacted angrily to Ley’s move on Tuesday.

The three Nationals MPs who resigned from the frontbench – a move that precipitated the parties officially splitting due to a breakdown in shadow cabinet solidarity – learnt about Ley’s wish to suspend them from shadow cabinet for six months via the media after this masthead reported Ley’s compromise plan to reunite the Coalition.

Ley was briefing her own MPs on the offer she had made to Littleproud at the same time as Nationals MPs were in their own party room meeting, but Littleproud had not yet told them of Ley’s offer.

Separately, shadow ministers said they were only told of Ley’s idea after she had communicated with the Nationals, though Ley’s party room backed her plan and the vast majority of Liberals supported suspending the rebel Nationals.

Liberal sources claimed Littleproud ignored repeated requests to meet on Tuesday, as the Nationals leadership mulled a counteroffer on Tuesday evening. If the parties fail to agree on a plan over the next few days, Ley is expected to announce a Liberal-only opposition frontbench, cementing a long-term split.

Ley and Littleproud spoke on Monday night, the Liberal leader saying the warring parties could reunite if the three rebel senators – Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald – spent six months off the frontbench and the regional party affirmed the notion of shadow cabinet discipline.

But one Nationals MP rubbished the talks between the leaders as a “totally bullshit” process designed to create the perception of a good-faith negotiation, when in fact Ley and Littleproud’s working relationship was non-existent.

The reality of the split was on display in parliament on Tuesday as Littleproud moved to the backbench and the Nationals sat separate from the Liberals alongside the crossbench.

Labor ministers mocked the parties from the first moment of question time.

“They make the Beckhams look like a happy family. They are like a couple that bought a non-refundable holiday, then broke up and have to sit there and suffer through it,” Education Minister Jason Clare said.

The Nationals expressed frustration that Ley’s offer leaked out to the media before its own MPs were briefed on it.

“As per media reports, the Nationals have received a written offer from the Liberal Party,” Littleproud said. “We will take our time to consider the details.

“The Nationals are united in our endeavours to reset the Coalition, but we won’t be providing updates on any negotiations through the media.”

Pressure has intensified on Littleproud this week as his own MPs backed a motion to get the Coalition back together, weeks after Liberals blamed him for recklessly allowing his party to vote against Labor’s post-Bondi hate speech laws despite the shadow cabinet agreeing to back them.

But both Littleproud and Ley have boxed themselves in, with Littleproud taking a hard line on a demand to reinstate the three frontbenchers who resigned last month, which Ley and her party room oppose, and also seeking greater flexibility for Nationals to cross the floor.

While announcing the split 12 days ago, Littleproud said the Nationals “cannot be part of a shadow ministry under Sussan Ley”, so any reconciliation would be a major backdown for the Nationals leader.

Many MPs in both parties would like to see the two parties rejoin, even though some moderate Liberals are keen to remain apart so that they can focus on city voters. Queensland backbencher Terry Young argued the split should be long-lasting.

One Liberal MP said after Ley’s briefing that the Nationals were “parasitic” as the regional party “see the relationship with the Liberal Party as a way to enrich themselves” rather than achieve mutual success.

“Many Liberals believe that [the Nationals] are an unworthy coalition partner. Until they adopt a new mindset we are better off without them dragging us down to their level of mediocrity,” said the MP, who spoke off the record to be candid.

“David Littleproud is no longer credible as a leader and a parliamentarian. He should consider his future,” the MP said. “Preferably a vocation that does not require any form of relationship management.”

This masthead reported on Monday that Ley’s allies, battling to stave off a challenge from leadership rival Angus Taylor, were asking MPs to keep Ley in the job until at least the time of the federal budget in May.

Speaking outside a church service to mark the opening of parliament on Tuesday morning, Ley said: “Very confident of delivering a strong budget-in-reply speech in May.”

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