Deputy Premier John Barilaro faces fire in parliament after dummy spit

The NSW Nationals leader’s threat to pull support from the government has blown up in his face and now there’s a new challenge to his authority.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro is facing a motion of no confidence on Wednesday, after threatening to effectively move the Nationals Party to the crossbench last week.

Labor Leader Jodi McKay gave notice on Tuesday that she will move that the Nationals Leader “no longer enjoys the confidence of this house”.

She said her decision was made after “his attempt last week to move the Nationals Party to the crossbench, which would have cost the government its parliamentary majority and threatened the stability of government amid an unprecedented health and economic crisis across NSW”.

“It has become clear that so long as John Barilaro remains Deputy Premier, the people of NSW cannot have faith in the stability of this government at a time it is so desperately needed,” she said.

Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro threatened his party would not support government legislation, boycott joint party room meetings and effectively move to the crossbench over amendments to the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), which were designed to protect koala habitats.

NSW Labor Leader Jodi McKay has moved a no-confidence motion against the Deputy Premier, which will be debated on Wednesday. Picture: Dylan Coker

Under the amendments, land owners would be responsible for the koalas on their land, which could impact how they develop it, and the Nationals have reportedly been bombarded with calls from residents who are against it.

Mr Barilaro withdrew his threats on Friday morning and committed to the Coalition until the election, after Premier Gladys Berejiklian called for the rogue MPs to fall into line or resign immediately.

Sources with knowledge of high-level meetings held between Mr Barilaro and Ms Berejiklian on Friday morning said no concessions were made by the Premier, though the Nationals saw the day – despite backing down on their threat – as a victory.

A senior source within the Nationals told NCA NewsWire on Friday it was a win for the party because it marked the first time the Premier had promised it would go to cabinet as soon as possible — as opposed to the item appearing on the agenda and being bumped off.

“The Premier has agreed it’s an urgent cabinet agenda item, and we’ve made the Liberal MPs aware of (the potential impacts of the legislation),” they said.

There has been no confirmation as to what meeting the matter will be discussed at, but it’s understood the Nationals will push to make it the number one priority.