Ley heaps pressure on Littleproud as leaders fight for their political lives

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has ratcheted up the pressure on Nationals counterpart David Littleproud, sparking a fresh rift between the under-pressure pair after Ley claimed that Littleproud was too busy fending off a leadership threat to discuss reforming the Coalition.

With Ley’s key rivals set to speak on Thursday about how to unite against her, Littleproud’s leadership was thrust into the spotlight after rogue MP Colin Boyce, an outsider with few allies, shocked MPs by going on TV to announce he planned to bring on a leadership vote next week.

Even though Boyce’s spill motion was quickly dismissed by Littleproud’s top competitors, it undermines the Nationals’ leader and complicates any push to reunite the warring parties after last week’s split over a dispute on shadow cabinet discipline.

Influential Nationals senator Matt Canavan told this masthead on Wednesday he would not support Boyce’s motion and that the Coalition should be reformed “as soon as possible” – a move that many Liberals and Nationals believe can only happen if Littleproud were to resign.

Ley, desperate to fend off rivals for her own job, seized on the Nationals’ drama, telling her Liberal colleagues hours after Boyce’s announcement that Littleproud had rejected her offer to discuss a truce ahead of parliament’s return next week.

“I reminded him that as the leaders of the Liberal and National parties, we are the stewards of two great movements that exist to serve the Australian people and that maintaining a strong and functioning relationship between our two parties is in the national interest — whether in formal Coalition or not,” she said.

“David’s team have just advised mine that his focus is the spill motion he now faces and he is therefore unavailable to meet until after that spill is considered.”

In remarks likely to provoke the Nationals leader, she added: “We will talk to whoever the Nationals elect as their leader.”

When Littleproud withdrew the Nationals from the Coalition last Thursday, he said he could not see a Coalition while Ley remained leader of the Liberals.

Littleproud declined to comment when asked by this masthead about Ley’s remarks. But a senior Nationals source, unwilling to speak publicly, said it further diminished the Nationals’ trust in Ley and made it even less likely the parties could reunite.

“This is bad faith and all about displaying strength to her people so she can ward off Angus [Taylor] and [Andrew] Hastie,” they said.

A majority of the 18 Nationals would need to vote yes to vacate the leader’s position before another MP could put up their hand. Two competitors to Littleproud, Canavan and former minister Darren Chester, ruled themselves out immediately, and Boyce’s spill motion may not even get up because he needs two MPs to back him and not a single colleague has lent their support so far.

Even so, the incendiary move from the Gladstone-based former boilermaker cast a spotlight on Littleproud’s future.

Former leader Michael McCormack said, “David is the leader and he has the support of the majority of the party room”, before adding in relation to his own ambitions: “Never say never. The moment you shut the door completely you look stupid.”

Senator Bridget McKenzie, who some colleagues believe could lead the party from the Senate, released a statement that did not explicitly rule out running for leader.

“This spill motion has come out of the blue,” she said. “I don’t believe the party room has changed since last week’s events.”

Liberal challengers Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie, the two conservatives considering a tilt against Ley, will hold their first face-to-face talks in weeks on Thursday in Melbourne, where they will both attend the funeral of former Liberal MP Katie Allan.

Most right-wingers believe Ley’s leadership is doomed, but the faction must rally around one candidate for any challenge to succeed. Taylor has been urging calm to colleagues, questioning the wisdom of a swift spill that is not handled maturely, while Hastie’s backers firmly believe the West Australian has more support than Taylor.

The split among Ley’s opponents has buoyed the confidence of the opposition leader’s camp, but continued dire polling has MPs calling for an urgent overhaul of the party’s policy agenda and public messaging.

The status of the leadership of both parties is fluid and difficult to predict. Some MPs predict the most likely time for a Liberal spill is mid-February, at the tail end of the two-week parliamentary session.

Boyce said on Sky News early on Wednesday that his colleagues deserved the chance to debate Littleproud’s leadership. Some of his colleagues believe he will defect to the crossbench after Monday’s spill fails.

“The National party is committing political suicide by removing itself from the Coalition,” he said.

Littleproud said he stood by his record and what the Nationals had achieved.

“The Nationals held all of its House of Representatives seats at the last election,” he said.

“The Nationals also fought to keep important policies, including the Regional Australia Future Fund, tougher action on supermarkets with divestiture powers, Universal Service Obligation reform to ensure better mobile phone coverage in regional areas, and dumping net zero while keeping all energy options on the table, including nuclear.”

Littleproud fended off a challenge after the last election from Canavan, who has much wider support than Boyce. Canavan suggested the latest spill motion would fail.

“I see no reason to change our team now,” he said.

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