It was the day conscious uncoupling came to Parliament House. A political break-up for the ages, laden with all the drama and high emotion of a Hollywood power couple’s sudden split.
The coalition between the Liberal Party and Nationals has been the great union of Australian politics, surviving triumph and disaster for more than eight decades. Indeed, the partnership predates the parties themselves. Beginning in 1923 with an agreement between the Country and Nationalist parties, the alliance collapsed a few times but has held solid for the past 38 years.
Nationals leader David Littleproud announces the split with the party’s Senate leader Bridget McKenzie and deputy leader Kevin Hogan.Credit: AAP
Like so many marriages, it didn’t always make sense when viewed from the outside. The akubra-wearing populists from the bush and the silvertail free marketeers from the city could often make uncomfortable ideological bedfellows. But this yin and yang made the partnership work and, once upon a time, the Coalition into an election-winning machine.
For all their differences, the Nats and Libs were united by a shared mission: keeping Labor out of power. And they’ve been remarkably successful at it, holding power for most of the past century. The union was so strong that when the Liberal Party won outright majorities in 1975, 1977 and 1996 the Coalition was retained and Nationals MPs handed key cabinet positions.
Credit: Matt Golding
Now – like Brad and Angelina, Tom and Nicole, Hugh and Deborra-Lee – it is over. At least for now.
The Nationals have very much been the junior member of the alliance in modern times, but it was their leader who announced the break-up on Tuesday. As David Littleproud stood beside the fellow members of his leadership team, one could hear the plaintive sound of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You wafting through the parliamentary corridors: “Goodbye, please don’t cry/We both know that I’m not what you need.”
Although often assumed to be about the end of a romance, Parton’s song was written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor, country music legend Porter Wagoner, explaining her decision to pursue a solo career independent of the man who helped make her a star.
Similarly, Littleproud gave the impression he was trying to let Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her fellow Liberals down gently. “They 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,” Littleproud said.
Deploying a striking fluency in modern therapeutic language, Littleproud said the decision was about “setting clear boundaries and parameters about what’s important to us” and allowing the Liberals to “rediscover who they are and what they want to be”.
Littleproud was aware he could come across as a villain, given Ley’s mother died only three days ago. He stressed that he had taken her personal circumstances into account during the process. “So much so that I made myself available to go to Albury when she wanted to initiate those discussions, rather than making her come to Canberra,” Littleproud said.
What a guy. Perhaps Ley should feel grateful the Nats didn’t ghost her by simply failing to show up to the first joint party room meeting of the new parliament.
For all the magnanimous talk, there was no doubt who was the dumper and dumpee. The Nationals said they were walking away because the Liberals had not offered them enough on telecommunications policy, nuclear power, regional funding and competition policy. Ley says the Liberals’ policy offering is being reviewed from top to bottom after their May 3 flame out, limiting her ability to make definitive commitments.
Viewed from this angle, the split is less about a journey towards rediscovery and more about the Nats trying to squeeze concessions from their beleaguered partner. Plus, a way to regain some pride following the stinging defection of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to the Liberals party room.
Nationals deputy Kevin Hogan looked on the bright side, arguing a bit of time apart could allow the parties to rekindle their flame. “We’ve all broken up in a relationship that’s been important to us and very often, more often than not, you get back together … with clearer clarity and focus on what the relationship was about and … how it is going to work even better,” he said.
Ley expressed disappointment at the Nationals’ decision, insisting her “door remains open” for discussions on reviving the Coalition. But there was a sting in the tail: like a spurned partner returning to reclaim their fridge and flat-screen TV, she made clear the Liberal Party will be claiming ownership of all the shadow ministry positions until the Nats agree to play nice.
It will ultimately be electoral mathematics that reunites the parties, not fuzzy feelings. The Nationals and Liberals are miles away from winning power together – let alone in their own right. For the centre-right to govern again, this will have to be a trial separation rather than a divorce.
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