Nationals brand is toxic and it needs a quick and brutal reset

What has happened to the National Party, the old Country Party, the savvy political entity that has traditionally been the champion of the bush and the regions? Their brand has now become toxic, writes Peter Gleeson.

WHAT has happened to the National Party, the old Country Party, the savvy political entity that has traditionally been the champion of the bush and the regions?

It’s lost its way. It’s on the nose. And unless it gets its act together in the next few years, it may be spent as a political force.

Take a look at the lions of the National Party. People like “Black Jack” McEwen, Doug Anthony, Ian Sinclair, Tim Fischer, John Anderson, John Sharp, Mark Vaile and of course Ron Boswell.

These men were political pragmatists. They could sense a major issue – or crisis – and head it off at the pass. They knew the bush. They knew what made it tick. They were unashamedly men of the land who never took a backward step, whether in Parliament or in the joint party room with their Liberal colleagues.

Prime Ministers like Menzies, Howard and Malcolm Fraser not only relied on their National Party leaders, they placed great weight on their counsel.

Today they are a shambles. Wracked by infighting and ill discipline, they are a shadow of their former self and the likes of Pauline Hanson, Bob Katter and the Shooters and Fishers Party are eating their lunch.

Senator Pauline Hanson has picked up many of the traditional Nationals’ voters. Picture: Kym Smith

The erosion of support for the National Party in the regions is extraordinary. The rot really set in with the ill fated decision in 2016 by then NSW Nationals leader Troy Grant to join his Liberal boss Mike Baird and ban greyhounds.

As Barnaby Joyce said at the time it’s not a good day when the National Party jumps into bed with the Greens on any issue, let alone banning an industry that is the lifeblood of so many country towns. That decision sparked a widespread revolt in the NSW bush. Nationals MPs scrambled to save face – and their jobs – with their local electorates. They knew this was political suicide but Grant told them to tow the party line or else.

MP Bridget McKenzie. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

The Shooters and Fishers Party started wrestling seats away from the Nationals as fed up Nationals voters switched their allegiances. In Queensland, they walked away and joined Hanson or Katter, politicians of conviction, who may be wayward, but they do what they say.

Country people are pretty forgiving of their politicians, especially Nats who have been part of their way of life for generations. But they won’t support pretenders or those who go back on their word. Or those who desert their base.

That’s why this Bridget McKenzie sports rorts affair is just the tip of the iceberg. I originally thought McKenzie might survive because pork-barrelling is part and parcel of politics.

But when we see stories of struggling country sports clubs filling out applications for assistance – doing terrific submissions and independent analysis showing they are worthy recipients – only to have Ministerial intervention cast them aside, well that’s a different dynamic. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Nationals brand is toxic and it needs a quick and brutal reset.

They don’t stand for anything anymore. They have become lackeys for the Liberals, losing their true identity.

The best National Party politicians are outspoken and stand for something. Barnaby Joyce has found his voice again after being banished to the backbench.

When he was Deputy PM and in Cabinet, if he strayed from the script, he’d be lambasted. MPs like George Christensen and Michelle Landry are pilloried when they say something that deviates from the party line.

It’s time for the Nationals to go back to their traditional roots. Helping those people in the country who deserve and need support like sporting clubs would be a good start.