NSW Coalition ‘renew vows’ after days of chaos

The NSW Coalition has ‘reaffirmed’ its political marriage after a last-minute peace deal averted a potential Liberal-National split, capping a damaging four days for the opposition.

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders, left, and NSW Liberals and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman. Picture: Nikki Short

The NSW Coalition has “reaffirmed” its political marriage after a last-minute peace deal on Monday night averted a potential Liberal-National split, capping a chaotic and damaging four days for the opposition.

In a joint statement from the leaders of the state Liberals and Nationals, Mark Speakman and Dugald Saunders respectively, the pair “reaffirmed (their) commitment to the Coalition”.

“Our job and our common objective are to hold this bad government to account and to offer a strong alternative,“ they said.

It follows about 48 hours of peace talks between both camps, including a cohort of senior Liberals on Monday hitting the phones to “deploy the troops” to avert any split, including former premier Dominic Perrottet, who played a role in broking the peace agreement.

In the joint statement, significantly, both leaders affirmed the sacking of Nationals MP Wes Fang from the shadow ministry, where he had assistant roles in the police and regional NSW portfolios.

The Coalition fracture had been instigated last week by a Facebook post by Mr Fang, who accused the Liberal leader of “slinking” into the Riverina without telling him, saying that he didn’t care about the region.

Mr Speakman on Friday announced he’d removed Mr Fang from his roles, only for Mr Saunders a few hours later to say that he hadn’t and couldn’t.

On Monday, the Liberals said it had become clear that convention afforded Mr Speakman the power to sack Mr Fang with the opposition leader refusing to budge on the issue, calling a Tuesday party room to discuss breaking the Coalition.

NSW Nationals MP Wes Fang. Picture: James Gourley

The statement, and Mr Fang’s removal, should bring the escalating crisis, of the Coalition’s own doing, to a close.

One senior Liberal MP said it was “peace in our time” and even the contemplation of a split was ludicrous, but warned the incident “probably wouldn’t be the last”.

“It’s about how we handle this (disagreements) in the future,” they said.

Parliamentarians of all stripes had also been musing two things across Monday and Tuesday.

One, whether Mr Speakman had reacted poorly to a Daily Telegraph story on Friday that accused him of having “no dog”, deciding he had to stamp his authority that afternoon on Mr Fang.

And two, whether the last four days instead reflected more on Mr Saunders’s leadership, of who Mr Fang is loyal to.

“There’s a lot more at play here,” one MP said.

Another asked whether the general public even knew who Mr Wang, an Upper House member, was.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday after the peace statement, Mr Speakman said Mr Fang’s post was “unacceptable” but that he and Mr Saunders retained a “very good relationship”, with the pair talking “robustly” over the past few days.