Tim Wilson weighs tilt at Liberal leadership as Nationals’ vote threatens Coalition agreement

Tim Wilson is considering a shock tilt at leading the Liberal Party as the Coalition braces for a cut-throat battle to lead the Nationals in a vote that will act as a proxy on Australia’s climate target and threatens to reshape the relationship between the two parties.

In successive leadership ballots, the Nationals vote for a new leader on Monday afternoon followed by the Liberals on Tuesday as they reel from their worst election loss since the Liberal Party was founded in 1944.

Tim Wilson with supporters as he claimed victory in Goldstein last week.Credit: Paul Jeffers

On Sunday, Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price confirmed she would run as Right faction candidate Angus Taylor’s deputy as they promised to fight for “basic” Liberal values in a tight contest with Sussan Ley who is backed largely by party moderates.

As neither candidate is viewed as a standout, Wilson told this masthead colleagues had asked him about running for leader after he claimed victory in the Melbourne seat of Goldstein. Independent Zoe Daniel has not yet conceded the seat, but Wilson’s result on May 3 makes him the only Liberal to oust a teal MP.

“I am mindful of the National Party’s leadership ballot tomorrow, and that will inform my judgment,” Wilson said on Sunday.

“I have not canvassed any colleagues, but some have reached out to me on their initiative, and Jason Falinski has made his view extremely clear.”

Falinski, a former NSW Liberal Party president who lost the Sydney seat of Mackellar in 2022, argued Wilson should become leader because of his campaigning skills, pointing to his successful arguments against former Labor leader Bill Shorten’s 2019 tax agenda and in support of the 2017 marriage equality plebiscite.

“You just know with Tim Wilson that from day one he will be out there fighting for the soul of the nation, trying to win the hearts and minds of all Australians, not taking the lazy option of a small target strategy that waits for Labor, the Greens and the teals to lose the faith of people,” Falinski wrote in The Australian Financial Review on Sunday.

“Tim Wilson is not the messiah, but he is someone who has walked through the valley of death and come out the other side. That changes you.”

Wilson acknowledged in a 2023 interview with this masthead that he had battled perceptions of arrogance but had been changed by the experience of losing his seat in 2022.

Falinski’s enthusiasm would likely be countered by some in the party who do not believe Wilson has served his time before running for a leadership role.

It is also unclear how many MPs would vote for Wilson, given many have already pledged their vote to Ley or Taylor.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott on Sunday backed the Taylor-Price ticket, saying in a statement that the pair had “the conviction and courage to make a real contest of the next election”.

Taylor released a short video on Sunday of himself and Price promising to fight hard for traditional Liberal values.

Ley’s supporters claimed the move by Price, who vowed to “make Australia great again” during the campaign, to join Taylor’s ticket had backfired because uncommitted MPs were not attracted to the idea of the senator taking on such a senior role.

Nationals MPs will vote at 3pm on Monday in Canberra to decide between existing leader David Littleproud or right-winger Matt Canavan.

Canavan – a former minister who has turned into a rebellious senator focused on immigration and free speech – said he had had a better-than-expected response from colleagues since announcing his candidacy on Friday and that MPs were open to the unconventional idea of having a senator lead the party.

The leadership vote, which Littleproud is still expected to win, was effectively a referendum on the Coalition’s commitment to the target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, Canavan said.

“At the election we basically told people ‘Your life is rubbish’ but we’re not going to change anything. If things are really bad, we need to make major changes and things like net zero have to go,” he said, pointing to former British Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s recent call to rethink the UK’s net zero pledge.

Challengers: Nationals David Littleproud and Matt Canavan, and Liberals Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, Flavio Brancaleone

“It’s about time Australia gets with the program before we fall further in the race to remain economically competitive.”

Canavan pushed back against Littleproud’s view that the Nationals must not present themselves in a way that acts as a drag on the Liberal Party’s support in the cities.

On the prospect of ripping up the Coalition agreement that joins the Liberals and Nationals, Canavan said: “It’s a business relationship. I’d prefer no deal to a bad deal for the Nats. A vote for me would be a vote against net zero.”

Littleproud shed internal enemies at the election when two MPs previously supportive of Barnaby Joyce quit. However, he lost deputy leader Perin Davey after she failed to win her NSW senate position and three new MPs have added an element of unknown to the contest.

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, a critic of Littleproud, had surgery for prostate cancer last week and will not travel to Canberra for the vote. He will send a proxy who will cast a vote for Canavan, who aligns with Joyce on the net zero policy.

Littleproud said on the Today show on Sunday, “I’m proud of my record. I’m comfortable in my own skin, but it’s the party room’s decision.”

“Whatever happens, happens, but I’m still committed to the National party and all that we’ve done and all that we will achieve. We shouldn’t get upset about democracy taking place. This is healthy for our democracy.”

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