Nationals feud amid Barnaby Joyce return to the party’s leadership

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Bob Hawke’s appeals for party unity always began with the words “if you can’t govern your own party, you can’t govern the country”.

Labor has never tried to hide its division. The left and the right co-exist and are well prepared to go to war should an outbreak of factional warfare occur. The Liberals have their factions and they have become more open in recent years.

In NSW the so-called left is still dominated by Michael Photios, a former MP who is now probably the most powerful person in the NSW Liberal Party. Photios’ faction rules with a large majority and if you want a future in the party my best advice is that you make yourself known to him and make sure your hand goes up when his does. Independent thought is admirable but will hold you back.

The Nationals have proved over many years that they are the most unified and stable of our political parties. Under John McEwen and Doug Anthony they were the perfect coalition partner for the Liberals. They were not too demanding and left the Liberals to their own machinations.

They have not managed to produce a leader with the same power as these two, so their clout within the Coalition has dwindled. They are certainly not the tail wagging the dog. These two Country Party heroes, as they were then, had big personalities and cast much longer shadows than those who succeeded them.

Nationals MP Keith Pitt.

Darren Chester.

Given their history, it is extraordinary to see the state they are in today. If Keith Pitt really did vote for Barnaby, he is entitled to feel betrayed. Pitt is one of the few Nationals who has performed really well and dumping him from cabinet was just plain dumb.

Darren Chester reacted ferociously to being dumped from cabinet. His account of a conversation with Barnaby was brief and brutal. Chester claimed that the conversation he had with Barnaby was “so incoherent he couldn’t explain what he was even saying to me”. Pitt’s comments were even more direct. He said, “I’ve landed on a snake in the game of snakes and ladders”. There are times in politics when the ladders seem few and far between.

If ever there is a good time for political bloodletting it is now. The parliament is not sitting and an election is probably eight or nine months away. Interest in politics is at its nadir in the political cycle while apathy and disinterest are at their zenith.

Nationals Deputy Leader David Littleproud, Barnaby Joyce and Senator Bridget McKenzie after the party’s leadership change. Picture: AAP

Barnaby has considerable experience in the art of bloodletting so I am sure he will more than hold his own. The Nationals seem more intent on internal warfare than they do in fighting the Labor Party. They barely resemble the bulwark against socialism which they once fancied themselves as being.

Even if the Prime Minister, with all the skills he possesses in bringing people together, were to enter the fray, you would have to think that such a Herculean task would be beyond him. Given that all is quiet on the Liberal front at the moment, you would have to believe that the Prime Minister should at least try to bring some peace to his troubled coalition partner. The dogs of war are barking loudly and if they are allowed to break free who knows what havoc they could wreak.

It is not a case of panicking too early but rather an opportunity to nip in the bud what could escalate into a damaging spat. You can have simmering dislikes and hatreds steaming in the background of politics but you cannot allow them to boil over. That point could be reached very, very soon.