‘No assassins’: David Littleproud’s cheeky jab at Labor’s minister dumping fallout

Nationals leader David Littleproud claims the party has “no assassins”, taking a jab at Labor’s dumping of two cabinet ministers on Monday.

Re-elected Nationals leader David Littleproud has taken a swipe at Labor’s dumping of two cabinet ministers as he celebrates his victory.

The MP, who has held the leadership role since 2022, fought off a challenge from conservative Queensland senator Matt Canavan in Monday’s leadership ballot.

Kevin Hogan has been elected deputy leader and Bridget McKenzie will be leader in the Senate.

“We don’t have assassins. We do it front on (and) we go full bottle in the party room,” Mr Littleproud told Today on Tuesday morning, referencing dumped Labor cabinet minister Ed Husic’s accusation that Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was a “factional assassin”.

“(We) have it out and then move forward, and then we’ll look through our policies and then see what happens today and work with the Liberals and trying to help them.

Nationals leader David Littleproud says Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s decision to defect to the Liberal Party was ‘for the Australian people’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We were towelled up and from that you’ve got to listen, learn, understand and not give up.

“I mean, we need to hold the government to account. They’ve got a huge majority, but I think it can turn – the fundamentals haven’t changed.”

When asked about senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defecting to the Liberals, Mr Littleproud said the decision was about the people, not the party.

“It’s about making the right decision for the Australian people. They don’t want me to self-indulgently sit here and kick the dirt, they want me to get on with the job and focus on them, not on each other,” he said.

“The reality is Jacinta has an ambition greater than what the National Party can provide.

“We can only ever be the deputy prime minister. She wants to be the prime minister one day, and I’m not going to constrain anyone’s ambition if she’s got that.”

Mr Littleproud fended off challenger senator Matt Canavan. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Senator Price has confirmed she would run for deputy Liberal leader on Angus Taylor’s ticket.

Mr Littleproud said he would work with the Country Liberal Party to “recalibrate the numbers”.

It comes as Senator Canavan was unsuccessful in his bid to take the conservative party in a new direction.

Senator Canavan announced his tilt for the leadership on Friday, focusing on abolishing the net-zero-by-2050 policy.

Following Monday’s result, Senator Canavan took to X (formerly Twitter) to thank his supporters.

“I am proud to have fought for policies to revive Australia as the lucky country,” he wrote.

“I may not have won the battle but the war on net zero madness continues.

“I will keep up the fight!”

Originally published as ‘No assassins’: David Littleproud’s cheeky jab at Labor’s minister dumping fallout