Soul-searching first, and then a reunited Coalition can soar

So the Coalition is separated for now (“Three-year Noalition”, 21/5), a situation regretted by John Howard, who with John Anderson created the stable and forward-looking political outlook we enjoyed in Australia. Sadly, those days are past.

Our country has changed immeasurably since then. Preferential voting, which has its merits in a democracy, has skewered the primary vote and smaller, well-funded, self-interest groups have emerged, while waves of migration from countries hardly known to us then have changed the landscape and the way we see ourselves as a country, creating a new political awareness.

The country with its brave primary producers and old-time values that have created enormous wealth for the nation have been undervalued and often forgotten. It may be courageous for the National Party to go it alone while the Liberals set a new agenda for the way ahead. The doors of both parties are open for a possible reconciliation as they work through their problems.

Stephanie Summers, North Turramurra, NSW

The Nationals are the first party to show integrity by forgoing income to stand by their beliefs. This gives them the opportunity to call for all Australians to start embracing the JFK call: ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

Taking your hand out of the taxpayers’ pocket by not demanding unsustainable medical, childcare and educational services would curtail runaway spending.

We have sunk into a slothful, self-interested rabble with declining productivity, educational and health standards.

The Nationals have the high moral ground so they can expose Labor’s bread-and-circuses buying of votes. The image of healthy Australians working to provide a house for their family is alive and well in many farming communities. This is surely something to aspire to.

Sarah Childs, Lithgow, NSW

Only one partner in the Liberal-National Coalition was prepared to publicly endorse a position that would save this country from a future energy crisis.

It was the level-headed and pragmatic section of the National Party that refused to endorse the dangerous pursuit of net-zero emissions through “renewable” energy sources.

Such a position recognises the growing retreat of nations from a policy that threatens the reliable supply of energy to industry, which was so plainly demonstrated in the recent energy crisis in Spain and Portugal.

Commentators may bleat about the division this has brought to the Coalition. What bedwetters they are.

The energy debate has a long way to go. But it is vital to the prosperity of a modern nation with industries that are dependant on reliable energy.

We should be grateful to those in the National Party who have put their careers on the line by taking a stand in this critical debate.

Vicki Sanderson, Cremorne, NSW

The Coalition split can work just fine as it did back in the mid-1960s.

The Nationals return to being the Country Party. The Libs contest all the city seats. The CP contests all the regional, rural and remote seats. Don’t have any three-cornered contests against each other.

The Libs win 50 metropolitan-suburban seats promoting centrist, inner-city policies. The CP secures 30 rural seats promoting nuclear and regional funding, and together they form an 80-seat LCP coalition government.

John Clark, Moss Vale, NSW

The divorce of the Coalition partners is regrettable but it also provides significant opportunities.

To recapture electoral ground, the Liberals will need to engage in significant and deep soul-searching in terms of what they stand for and develop attractive policies aimed mainly at urban rather than regional dwellers.

The Nationals, on the other hand, have no need to do so and in fact would probably be compromised by the Liberals’ efforts, given their recent electoral results. The separation of both parties will not prevent them from supporting each other in parliament. But the Liberals need time to rejuvenate, and one can argue that this is best done on their own and without the very conservative influence of the Nationals.

Michael Schilling, Millswood, SA

The decision to dissolve the Coalition could be a political masterstroke that opens the way for them to return to government.

Each party is free to develop a separate set of policies for the next election. Both parties can then select quality candidates in all seats. By swapping preferences, their combined vote is maximised and the Greens-teals segment will be denied oxygen and die on the vine.

Gordon Harding, Everton Hills, Qld

Are our major political parties swapping roles? The Labor Party won the 2025 election partly because it was conservative in its ambitions and promises. The promise to develop nuclear power as a major energy source accelerated the sound defeat of the Coalition in the recent federal election. Why?

Changing to nuclear power involves risk and is revolutionary. This is not what the people expect from the conservative side of politics, particularly in an unstable world climate.

Lorraine Chester, Burleigh Heads, Qld

Anthony Albanese must feel as if he has been tapped on the shoulder by a golden wand.

First up, the ultimately hapless Scott Morrison, then Donald Trump’s ascension, then Peter Dutton, who was a hard sell and media-loathed, then a momentary fright as Labor’s weak governing record was put under the microscope for five minutes but, helpfully, inflation began treading water.

Next, hallelujah, a small interest rate reduction. And, when a distraction was needed as the voters pondered, Pope Francis died. The only cloud on the Albo horizon was the voice referendum, and who knows how that would fare today? To add to Albo’s good fortune, he also found on his political journey a charming fiancee and the perfect dog. All-round bliss on a stick.

Now the Libs are up the creek without a National Party paddle, and not a golden wand to be seen.

Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield, NSW

When the Coalition lost the 1972 election after 23 years in government, it seemed natural that they would become completely separate parties for a while.

I don’t recall any fuss in the media at the time.

At the 1974 election, Labor had its majority reduced and the Liberals and the National Party (then the Country Party) came back into Coalition. We all know what happened to Labor just 18 months later at the 1975 election.

The first lengthy split in the Coalition in more than 50 years is newsworthy but there is no cause for doom and gloom.

David Morrison, Springwood, NSW