Nationals eye greater share of shadow ministries and portfolios in first meeting with Sussan Ley

Nationals leader David Littleproud will use Coalition agreement talks with Sussan Ley to demand more power for rural party.

EXCLUSIVE: New Liberal leader Sussan Ley is kickstarting talks to hash out a new Coalition agreement with the Nationals amid a push from the rural party for greater influence after Peter Dutton’s election wipe-out.

Signalling she won’t waste any time in the top job, Ms Ley is hosting Nationals leader David Littleproud in her home base of Albury, in regional NSW, on Thursday for what will be the pair’s first face-to-face meeting since their respective elections this week.

Formal Coalition talks, which take place after each election, would normally be held in Canberra, but Ms Ley returned to her home on Tuesday to be near her mother, Angela Braybrooks, who is in end of life care.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP

The Nationals are eyeing a greater share of shadow ministries and more influential portfolios off the back of their comparative election success, which has lifted their proportional representation in the party room from about 18 per cent last term to 25 per cent this time.

There are no guarantees the two sides will even reach an agreement, with Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie saying on Wednesday she could not rule out if her party would take “different” policies to the election than the Liberals.

Nationals leader David Littleproud. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

“It depends on whether a partnership can be agreed,” she told Sky News.

Ms McKenzie said the new deal would have to reflect the “proportionality” of the joint party room, which will have 19 Nationals and about 55 Liberals.

“I think at the moment, it is fair to say that we are in a very powerful position, our electorate has backed our proposition very strongly, and that needs to be reflected in any partnership agreement,” she said.

She highlighted the fact the Nationals had previously held the treasury portfolio as an example of its past power within the Coalition.

While the Liberals lost more than a dozen lower house seats this election, the Nationals retained all of theirs and lost one senate position, NSW Senator Perin Davey.

Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Nationals have described Ms Davey as “collateral” damage in the Liberals’ wipe-out, as her third position on the Coalition senate ticket in NSW was rendered unwinnable after support for Mr Dutton collapsed.

The shock defection of Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to the Liberals has only further fuelled the Nationals’ anger toward their senior Coalition partner.

Ms Price, who represents the NT’s Country Liberal Party, left the Nationals in the hopes of securing the Liberal deputy leadership, but abandoned her bid to do so when fellow conservative Angus Taylor was defeated by Ms Ley.

After her election, Ms Ley said the government was “always stronger” when there was a coalition between the Liberals and the Nationals.

Her talks with Mr Littleproud in Albury come after what sources said was a “constructive” phone conversation on Wednesday, and is likely to be the first of several meetings to negotiate the a new Coalition deal.

Originally published as Nationals eye greater share of shadow ministries and portfolios in first meeting with Sussan Ley