David Littleproud insists he respected Sussan Ley’s circumstances after mother dies

Tensions still remain high after the Coalition split, with Nats leader David Littleproud denying that he blindsided Liberal counterpart Sussan Ley.

Nationals leader David Littleproud says he “respected the personal circumstances” of Liberal counterpart Sussan Ley amid negotiations for a Coalition agreement.

Ms Ley’s mother died over the weekend, just a few days after she was elected Opposition Leader.

However, the Nationals made the shock announcement on Tuesday that they would be splitting from the Coalition, saying they were unable to receive guarantees for the agreement, including retaining a nuclear energy policy.

On ABC Breakfast, Mr Littleproud denied the Nationals’ announcement was uncompassionate towards Ms Ley’s personal situation.

“It was predicated on Sussan Ley’s timeframe, not mine,” he said.

David Littleproud insists the National Party ‘respected the personal circumstances’ of Liberal leader Sussan Ley after her mother died. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Sussan Ley was elected on the Tuesday, she rang me on the Wednesday, and, in fact, wanted to fly to Canberra on the Friday to start negotiations.”

Mr Littleproud said he “made it clear to her it was unacceptable” and drove to Albury, Ms Ley’s electorate, “to make sure that she would stay with her (sick) mother”.

“We had initial discussion and then obviously over the weekend, I went back to her and her mother sadly passed,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We made no initiation of further negotiations … in fact, they were initiated after her mother’s death by her – by her and her office – to continue on and we only continued on in good faith that Sussan Ley was wanting to do that.

“We had no need to rush and we made sure that we respected the personal circumstances in which Sussan Ley found herself.”

Mr Littleproud said that was the way the partnership ended, and there was no timeline set by the National Party.

The Coalition union, which has lasted for almost 80 years, was due for a policy review after the opposition’s devastating loss in the 2025 federal elections.

Tensions continue after an uneasy exchange between deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien and Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie on the Today show on Thursday morning.

“There are big issues facing this country,” host Karl Stefanovic said.

“You both should grow up, the country needs a strong opposition just to sort it out and get on with it. I don’t see what’s so hard”.

In response, Senator McKenzie said, “Well, the nine million of us that live in regional Australia do have a strong perspective.

“We think that the policies we took, those four in particular …,” but the senator was cut off by Stefanovic, who moved on to ask Mr O’Brien his opinion.

Senator Bridget McKenzie said Liberal leader Sussan Ley was “unable” to offer comfort that the four policies they fought for would be included in the Coalition agreement. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A back and forth between Mr O’Brien and Senator McKenzie also ensued, with both sides laying blame on each other.

The senator was quick to bring up that a guarantee of the Nationals’ policies was not given in due time.

“After an election defeat, what typically has happened in our 80-year history is all policies stay on the table until they’re explicitly removed,” Senator McKenzie said.

“That is the reality of our Coalition that has worked for 80 years. What the Liberal leader decided to do last week is say “everything’s up for grabs now’.

Senator McKenzie also said Ms Ley was “unable” to guarantee the four policies the Nationals fought for would be included in the Coalition agreement.

“At the end of the day, it’s got to be mutually beneficial for both political parties,” she said.

“We’re not a subset of the Liberal Party, we’re a separate political party.”

Mr O’Brien said he was “genuinely, really sad” about the Nationals’ decision to split from the Coalition.

“I’m disappointed that the National Party did make the decision to leave the Coalition this week,” he said.

“The issue here isn’t that the Liberal Party has said no to any of the policy interests of the National Party.

“Sussan Ley, as our leader, made it really clear last week to the Australian public that we will be listening to them and then we’ll come back together as a as a party and make decisions.

“That’s the way it’s always done. Unfortunately, the National Party couldn’t wait.”

Deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien said the Nationals ‘could not wait’ to review policies in the Coalition agreement. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But Mr O’Brien said he wanted to see the Coalition party reunite.

“All of those four policies, we were able to settle the last term of government,” he said.

“My ask to (Bridget) this morning is let’s continue to work together and settle them as part of the Coalition, as we always have.”

The Coalition split on Tuesday came as a major shock after nearly eight decades of political marriage.

“(The Liberal Party) are going on a journey of rediscovery, and this will provide them the opportunity to do that without the spectre of the National Party imposing their will,” Mr Littleproud said.

He also said he didn’t “want to be fighting for three years” for Coalition guarantees.

“It was a principled position. We couldn’t get a guarantee that policies that were important to regional Australia, that were a Coalition policy before the last election around regional Australia’s future … we didn’t ask for a lot, but we couldn’t get that guarantee,” Mr Littleproud said.

“And these are things that would change the lives of regional Australians and we don’t want to be fighting for three years to try and get that.”