Barnaby Joyce finalises Nationals reshuffle amid Coalition tensions over Murray Darling Basin

Barnaby Joyce will spend the weekend finalising the Nationals’ ministerial reshuffle, amid Coalition tensions over water policy.

(L-R) Deputy Leader of the Nationals David Littleproud, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Leader of the Nationals in the Senate Bridget McKenzie.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce will spend the weekend finalising the Nationals’ ministerial reshuffle, as Coalition tensions over water policy continue to linger.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has hit out at Nationals attempts to amend the Murray-Darling Basin Plan this week in parliament as “deeply disappointing”, but his soon-to-be cabinet colleague Bridget McKenzie said on Friday that the junior Coalition partner’s demands on stopping water buybacks were “reasonable and evidence-based”.

Senator McKenzie is expected to be the big winner in the upcoming Nationals reshuffle, which will see her return to the federal cabinet just a year and a half after quitting amid a sports grants scandal. She also remains as Nationals senate leader.

Fellow Nationals MPs Andrew Gee, David Gillespie and Susan McDonald are also expected to be rewarded in the reshuffle after they backed Mr Joyce’s push against ex-Nationals leader Michael McCormack earlier this week.

Mr McCormack’s backers, including Veterans Minister Darren Chester and Local Government Minister Mark Coulton, are expected to lose out in the ministerial changes.

The reshuffle comes amid the biggest policy dispute between the Liberals and Nationals in recent years over the Murray-Darling Basin and the contentious allocation of water between states.

On Wednesday, the Nationals proposed major reforms to the plan that would disadvantage the river system in South Australia, in the party’s first major policy initiative since Mr Joyce returned as Deputy Prime Minister.

Senator Birmingham and South Australian MPs wrote to Scott Morrison this week to object to the Nationals’ proposals, and Senator Birmingham on Friday said he was “deeply disappointed” by some comments made by Nationals colleagues.

“It does need to stop in terms of attempts to change the laws as they apply in the water act in the operation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan,” he told the ABC.

“That’s certainly been the topic of discussions that I’ve had with the Prime Minister this week and in all of my South Australian Liberal colleagues.”