Implosion nigh as personal rows, policy spats tear Nationals apart

Disgruntled Nationals once hellbent on destroying Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack have turned their attention to McKenzie and are unlikely to stop, writes Annika Smethurst.

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From the outside it can be difficult to see why the federal National Party is in turmoil.

Predicted to lose seats at the May election, the junior Coalition partner held most of its turf and in many cases boosted narrow margins across Queensland.

Unlike the last parliament, its party leaders are no longer dual citizens and the sex scandals appear to have stopped.

But the National Party has a propensity to self-implode.

This week it was the party’s deputy leader Bridget McKenzie in the firing line as she faced a small but real threat to her leadership.

Rumblings about McKenzie have been going on for months but things came to a head when Pauline Hanson was able to secure a deal for dairy farmers when the Nationals couldn’t.

“We’ve been busting our arses on dairy, holding the line because we were told it couldn’t be done and then Hanson rolls out and claims the whole bloody lot,” one angry colleague said.

Deputy Leader of the Nationals Bridget McKenzie managed to ward off a lacklustre coup on her leadership last week. Picture Kym Smith

McKenzie managed to ward off the lacklustre coup on her leadership last week, partly because she missed the party room meeting and partly because those behind it were all hat and no cattle. But disgruntled Nationals who were once hellbent on destroying Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack have turned their attention to McKenzie and are unlikely to stop.

Towards the end of last week McKenzie — flanked by staff — tried to fix things by ­visiting some of her colleagues including David Gillespie, Llew O’Brien and Barnaby Joyce in their Canberra offices.

“She had to ask where my office was,” one MP quipped. Others were — perhaps fairly — offended by her decision to bring staff to the meeting.

While the anger is real, the Nats have been in crisis for two years. Back in 2017 while Joyce was campaigning for his re-election in regional NSW, the government was dragged kicking and screaming to a banking royal commission after Nationals backbenchers Llew O’Brien, Barry O’Sullivan and George Christensen went rogue.

Joyce’s re-election was meant to bring some stability back to the Nationals, but within months his leadership was over after it was revealed he was expecting a baby with a former staffer.

Barnaby Joyce’s leadership was over after it was revealed he was expecting a baby with a former staffer. Picture: AAP

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As with all political parties, some of the Nats’ MPs are angry at being overlooked for frontbench roles.

Then there’s the north-south divide, with those more conservative MPs (loosely defined as those living north of Wagga Wagga), clashing with their southern counterparts appealing to a different base.

There is also a rough split between those who support Joyce and those who don’t.

Some of the party’s major players haven’t spoken a single word to each other for more than a year. The personal rows are so bad it’s been enough to save the leadership team, as no one has more than a handful of backers in their corner.

The Liberals are becoming increasingly frustrated by the infighting, which has seen both Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg field complaints from angry Nationals and intervene in policy spats.

Disgruntled Nationals once hellbent on destroying Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack have turned their attention to his deputy. Picture Gary Ramage

The Prime Minister’s office is also furious with the attacks on McKenzie as she’s the sole woman in the Coalition’s leadership team and continues to have strong approval from voters according to internal polling.

Unfortunately for McKenzie the attacks on her leadership are unlikely to subside. The dairy deal may have been the trigger but disgruntled colleagues are already preparing to use an audit into sporting grants as another trigger to push her out.

That report, expected within weeks, will likely coincide with a fiery meeting of National Party MPs and senators due to be held in northern Victoria next month.

Cynically, the only winner in this latest fight gripping the National Party could be McCormack, whose once-terminal leadership seems safe for now.