NSW Liberals set to discuss cutting coalition with Nationals at urgent meeting

Liberal MPs will consider cutting formal ties with their Coalition partners after an urgent party room meeting was called for Tuesday morning, after days of infighting. Watch the explainer video here.

Liberal MPs are set to consider cutting formal ties with the National Party on Tuesday, in an extraordinary escalation of a Coalition spat over the behaviour of a junior shadow minister.

Liberals have been summoned to a party room meeting on Tuesday morning where severing the coalition agreement is expected to be on the cards.

It marks the lowest point in Liberal-National relations since former deputy Premier John Barilaro threatened to split the coalition over koala protection laws.

The text message advising MPs of the meeting insisted “ALL MEMBERS TO ATTEND (sic)”.

No explanation was given in the text but senior Liberals believed the meeting had been called after Nationals leader Dugald Saunders openly defied Liberal leader Mark Speakman.

Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders (left) and NSW Liberal Party Leader Mark Speakman (right) during a press conference at state parliament. A spat over a Facebook post may be about to split the Coalition apart. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

A number of Liberals have been agitating to destroy the coalition agreement ever since Mr Saunders refused Mr Speakman’s attempt to remove Nationals MP Wes Fang from his junior front bench role.

Mr Speakman attempted to terminate Mr Fang from his role as shadow assistant minister for police, emergency services, regional NSW, agriculture and natural resources “with immediate effect” on Friday afternoon.

Nationals MLC Wes Fang sparked the latest rift by criticising the Liberal leader on social media. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

“The public behaviour of the Hon Wes Fang MLC this week makes his positions as a shadow assistant minister untenable,” Mr Speakman said.

“I have invited the leader of the Nationals, Dugald Saunders MP, to nominate another Nationals MP to fill the vacated positions.”

Yet on the same afternoon, Mr Saunders released a statement saying the Opposition leader did not have the power to sack Mr Fang.

It came after Mr Fang, in a since-deleted post on Facebook, accused Mr Speakman of “slinking” into the town of Wagga Wagga without informing him earlier this week.

Nationals MP Wes Fang’s since-deleted post slamming Liberal leader Mark Speakman.

He also accused the Liberal for “pretending to care about the Riverina”.

Senior Nationals MPs said any discussions about severing the coalition in Tuesday’s meeting was just “chest beating”.

“I cannot believe how ridiculous this all is over such a pathetic thing,” one source said.

“They want to pump their chest like silverback gorillas … they’ll carry on but they can’t not be in a partnership with us.”

“This is a serious joke … it’s making Mark (Speakman) look really stupid.”

The senior source said while Mr Fang should not have written the Facebook post, it came after Nationals had repeatedly warned the Opposition leader about coming into regional areas and not letting their coalition partners know.

“We’ve raised it internally numerous times,” the source said.

“Wes shouldn’t have done what he did but he had a gutful and blew a gasket.”

Another senior Nationals MP said the whole situation was “ridiculous”.

“How petulant is he (Speakman) going to get about this,” the source said.

“His own party is leaking against him and now he goes and does this.”

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