How Coalition split will impact Queensland
David Littleproud has stood by the bombshell decision to split with the Liberals, while a Nationals senator has been snubbed live on TV.
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Nationals leader David Littleproud has stood behind the decision to split from the Liberals, saying he “couldn’t look people in the eye” if he had “rolled over” on key policies.
Mr Littleproud sensationally walked away from a formal Coalition with the Liberals – the first time since the early 1970s that the two parties haven’t worked together federally and for the third time since the Coalition was established over 80 years ago.
Deepening the divide on Wednesday morning, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan was ditched by Liberal leader Ted O’Brien on live TV.
It comes after the Coalition suffered a heavy defeat in the federal election that took place earlier this month, with the Liberal-Nationals holding 43 lower house seats compared to Labor’s 93.
The agreement between the two parties was torn apart over differences in key policies, including nuclear and net-zero, that could not be met halfway.
In the aftermath of the announcement, Mr Littleproud told Peter Fegan on 4BC Breakfast that he “couldn’t look people in the eye if I had rolled over at the first hurdle”.
“I’ve been given a huge privilege,” he said.
“To be here in this place. I pinch myself every day, and I’m going to make sure I leave a legacy.
“And if that means whether people agree with me with what I’ve done or not, I don’t bloody care, because I can’t look people in the eye and say I’ve stood up for them, and just rolled over at the first hurdle.”
A major sticking point between the two parties was net-zero, a key policy the Liberals and Nationals couldn’t see eye-to-eye on.
While stressing the point that individuals don’t determine policy, when pressed by Mr Fegan whether he agreed with net-zero or not, Mr Littleproud was selective with his choice of words.
“Not if it’s going to continue on the path of destroying our economy,” he said.
“I think there’s a better way to reduce our emissions than be held to something that is an arbitrary target the world’s not going to achieve.
“I think it’s a target the world’s now realising no one can get.”
Mr Littleproud went onto add that the door hasn’t closed on reaching an agreement with the Liberals, he said there were certain lines that “couldn’t be crossed”.
“There is a way forward, but we need other doors open on that,” he said.
“But there are lines that I made clear in the negotiations that couldn’t be crossed.”
HOW EPIC FEDERAL SPLIT WILL IMPACT QUEENSLAND
The epic split of the Coalition federally will have no bearing on the Queensland LNP state government or the LNP-dominated Brisbane City Council, according to the man who merged the party in the Sunshine State.
LNP president Lawrence Springborg, in an emergency briefing to the party membership, sought to distance the Queensland party unit from the turmoil in Canberra.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud has sensationally walked away from a formal Coalition with the Liberals — the first time since the early 1970s that the two parties haven’t worked together federally as a joint unit.
The Liberals and Nationals exist as separate party structures in almost all states and territories except Queensland and the Northern Territory, where the LNP and CLP respectively exist as a singular entity.
The LNP has existed since 2008, with the merger steered by Mr Springborg. Queensland is one of just two states — alongside Tasmania — run by the conservative side of politics.
Brisbane City Council — the largest local government in the country — is also run by the LNP.
Mr Springborg, in the email to members obtained by The Courier-Mail, said the discussions federally had “no bearing or impact on the organisational arrangements within the Queensland LNP”.
“The positive benefit that comes from the single united LNP in Queensland is there will be no Nationals, or Liberals contesting against each other in a futile waste of critical resources,” he said.
“We hope that as a part of the ongoing federal discussions this can also be avoided in other places around our nation.
“Ongoing positive, pragmatic and outcomes-focused discussions aimed at achieving a new Coalition are crucial going forward. Millions of LNP supporters nationwide expect this of us.”
Premier David Crisafulli reiterated Mr Springborg’s sentiment that the Queensland LNP would not be impacted by the federal split.
“How that (federal Opposition) is structured is for the Liberals and Nationals in Canberra to decide,” he said.
“As for what it means in Queensland – we are the LNP. We know what works in Queensland because we aren’t Canberra, we aren’t New South Wales and we aren’t Victoria.
“The LNP is a party for Queensland, formed in Queensland, delivering for Queenslanders.”
While the LNP has insisted that whatever new arrangement was reached it would have no impact on how it operates in Queensland, a federal Queensland LNP MP said the Coalition split would only serve to “piss off the voters and the membership”.
“The unification of the two parties in Queensland — regardless of the tiffs — works well,” they said.
“This just opens old divides.”
The decision by the Nationals to do away with the formal Coalition for now means none of its MPs or Senators — including Queenslanders like Senator Susan McDonald — will serve in shadow frontbench roles.
Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace said he was disappointed with the split but said it was “rare” for the Coalition to survive in Opposition.
“Today’s decision is disappointing. I am a Coalitionist – I think we’re better together as a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party,” he said.
“But the decision is not without precedent in Australia and the arrangement is relatively rare in democratic traditions such as ours – that we maintain a coalition while in opposition”.
Mr Wallace said he hoped a Coalition agreement would be reached by the 2028 election.
“I know that my colleagues across both parties share that same aspiration,” he said.
Originally published as How Coalition split will impact Queensland
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