Why the Coalition split happened and why we might heal

My door is always open to Sussan Ley, but the National Party’s separation from the Liberals was essential if we wanted to be serious about giving hope and a positive future to regional Australia, writes David Littleproud.

Splitting with the Liberals as a Coalition this week was the hardest decision of my political career. It wasn’t just my decision. It was a collective decision of the Nationals’ party room that we didn’t take lightly.

This isn’t about us as the Nationals MPs and Senators. It’s about Australians. We come to Canberra and sit in parliament to give regional Australians hope and a future.

Regional Australia is being done over and we must fight for our communities. Unfortunately, the Nationals were unable to get a guarantee around four key policies with the Liberals, which drew a line for us.

This includes nuclear power and ensuring it is part of the energy grid, rather than Labor’s reckless race to ­renewables, which continues to rip up our prime agriculture land and ­destroy our landscapes.

We also need the Regional Australia Future Fund, which would be a crucial $20 billion fund, paying a $1 billion dividend every year to change the lives of regional Australians, through employing and training more regional doctors, fixing our roads and even just filling some potholes, providing childcare accessibility and other things that city communities have readily available to them and take for granted.

The Liberal and National parties need time away to formulate policy and a path forward before they can get back together.

I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have a few policies and a few dollars to keep regional Australians safe and to give them the services they deserve.

After all, regional Australia creates the wealth for this nation through mining, agriculture and industry.

The Nationals also stand by the Universal Service Obligation – making sure regional communities can actually call emergency services when they need help. We need reform around the USO to extend it and use the technology that has evolved, to cover more than 1500 mobile phone towers that were built under the Coalition. Without reform to the USO and a minimum standard for mobile and internet access, lives are at risk every day in regional Australia.

The Nationals will also continue to take on the supermarkets, with the policy introduction of “big stick” divestiture powers. This isn’t just about the impact supermarkets are having on farmers getting fairness, but also families at the checkout. There should be a consequence and a deterrent if supermarkets do the wrong thing and we can only do that by changing the culture of supermarkets.

We must now continue to build on these policies and that’s why we must look forward. We cannot look back and try to regain important policy pieces. These tangible policies will change the lives of people living in regional Australia.

I’ve been given a privileged position to come to Canberra to represent them, so I can’t go back to the regions, look them in the eye and say I haven’t stood for something.

Without a principled position of making sure those hard-fought wins are maintained and respected, there can be no Coalition agreement.

Of course, my door is always open to the Liberals. I have given Sussan Ley my commitment that I’ll work with her to rebuild our relationship to the point where we can re-enter a ­Coalition before the next election.

While I think it is conceivable that Sussan can win the next election, there are many forces within her party and Sussan needs to have the appropriate environment to create and set that pathway.

Sussan has a big job ahead of her but she can do it. I want to allow Sussan the time for her to hopefully set up a design where we can both come back together in future.

This is about taking a deep breath and saying to the Australian people that this is a time the Coalition needs apart, for us to better to focus on them.

The Nationals were not able to get a guarantee from the Liberals about four core policies. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Our preference is that the Liberals are given space to create their policy platform and to be able to come back to us at any juncture. We will continue to work together in keeping those lines of communication open.

We will not take on the Liberals in Liberal-held seats. We want to be constructive and respectful. The enemy is the Labor Party and unfortunately Australians will continue to bear the brunt of Labor’s reckless spending and overtaxing.

And while some journalists in Canberra can’t get their head around the fact some Nationals MPs and senators will take a pay cut for their principle position and no longer work in the shadow ministry, this isn’t about our wages but ensuring future generations in the regions themselves have good wages and good lifestyles.

I am sick of losing country kids to the city – it has to stop and it can only stop if we give our children more opportunities in the regions. Protecting future generations is what gets me out of bed each morning and will continue to be my motivation during this next term of parliament.

This wasn’t an easy decision but at this time, it was the right one. It was made without malice and with the aim of having the best possible outcome.

The Nationals will now spend each and every day looking forward and working to shape the lives of regional Australians for the better.

David Littleproud is the leader of the federal National Party.