Nat rebels humiliate leader Michael McCormack

An LNP maverick, elected as Deputy Speaker in a damaging defeat for the PM, launches an attack on Michael McCormack.

Llew O'Brien with Barnaby Joyce during Question Time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

An LNP maverick — elected by rebel Coalition and Labor MPs to the role of Deputy Speaker in a damaging parliamentary defeat for Scott Morrison — has attacked embattled Nationals leader Mich­ael McCormack for holding a party meeting in Victoria last year that coincided with the Melbourne Cup.

Following a fiery Nationals partyroom meeting on Monday where Mr McCormack was ­labelled a “liar”, the party leader was further humiliated after Queenslander Llew O’Brien beat his pick, Damian Drum, a loyal ally, in a parliamentary vote for the role of Deputy Speaker.

In an interview with The Australian, former police officer Mr O’Brien slammed the Nationals culture, revealing that Mr McCormack convened a partyroom meeting in regional Victoria in 2019 to coincide with the Melbourne spring carnival.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. Picture: AAP

“I raised strong objections to that. It was a party meeting that ended when a race was on in Melbourne. I wasn’t comfortable with that and I raised it with both the leadership and the partyroom,” said Mr O’Brien, a strong supporter of a national integrity commission.

“There are certain things in my mind that tend to be glaringly obvious that you shouldn’t be doing. And going to a sporting event or organising a meeting to coincide with another event that is not covered by your travel entitlements is one of those things. “It was only after my protests that the people going there paid part of their own way. And I would say that a response from certain party (MPs) in relation to that was quite negative towards me, and ­inappropriate.”

A spokesman for Mr McCormack told The Australian that Mr Drum, the chief whip, had sought advice from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, on how to ensure “taxpayers were not charged a single dollar for the expense of any MP choosing to stay in Melbourne for the weekend’’.

Mr McCormack, who narrow­ly held off Barnaby Joyce in a leadership spill last week, faces renewed pressure this week as he struggles to maintain unity among the party’s 20 MPs and senators.

In an unprecedented parliamentary loss following question time, disgruntled Nationals teamed with Labor and the crossbench to defeat Mr Drum by 75 to 67 votes. The showdown was sparked after Mr O’Brien quit the Nationals amid pushback against Mr McCormack’s leadership and the rewarding of loyalists in his ministerial picks last week.

Mr O’Brien gave the Prime Minister a written assurance on Monday night he would remain in the Coalition party room and vote with the government in parliament.

The Australian confirmed that Mr O’Brien met with Mr Morrison in his office where he gave the Prime Minister a letter confirming he would remain a member of the Liberal Nationals Party, despite having resigned as a member of the Nationals. He also affirmed his commitment to the government’s legislative agenda. It is understood that Mr O’Brien asked for nothing in return for his support.

The Prime Minister, who has endured weeks of turmoil from inside the junior Coalition partner, has been forced to deal directly with Nationals MPs unable to work with Mr McCormack, with senior Liberals privately conceding a leadership change may now be “inevitable”.

Following the parliamentary defeat, which came after a hostile partyroom meeting in Canberra, Queensland MP Ken O’Dowd confirmed he had backed Mr O’Brien and threw support behind Mr Joyce for another leadership tilt. As The Australian revealed last week, Mr McCormack’s snubbing of Joyce backers in his new ministerial line-up had triggered claims of “nepotism” and put pressure on Mr Morrison to avoid further ­instability.

Mr O’Brien, who replaced former Nationals leader Warren Truss in 2016 as the member for Wide Bay, left open the door to returnin­g to the Nationals if Mr McCormack was replaced, and took aim at last year’s regional Victorian partyroom meeting.

The Australian has confirmed the parliamentary register of ­interest shows that Mr McCormack, Darren Chester, Michelle Landry, Kevin Hogan and Bridget McKenzie accepted tickets from Tabcorp to attend the Melbourne Cup and Derby Day.

Mr McCormack’s spokesman said the Nationals regularly met in electorates across the country to discuss how best to deliver for regional Australia. The “planning day’’ held 90 minutes from Melbourne on Friday, November 1, was one such occasion.

The IPEA “confirmed any member staying in Melbourne for the weekend could neither claim the cost of their return travel on Sunday, nor any travelling allowance. This advice was provided to Nationals MPs ahead of time.’’

Mr O’Brien, who is not expected to face internal pressure from the Liberal National Party organisation, on Monday pushed for the LNP to operate as a separate entity in Canberra.

“We are a party of our own. I think in time to come an LNP partyroom would be sensible and effective, and certainly based on the numbers of LNP members in the house at the moment, very powerful,” he said.

The new Deputy Speaker, who will earn an extra $42,250 on top of his base salary of $211,250, suggested the LNP, depending on seat numbers, could pick future deputy prime ministers. “If they are a unit within the Coalition and they hold more seats than the Nats, yes (the LNP should pick the deputy prime minister),” he said.

While Mr Joyce remains an option for Nationals colleagues in the event of future leadership spills, sources inside the Coalition said new Nationals deputy David Littleproud was the “obvious compromise candidate”.

Mr O’Brien, who will continue sitting in the joint Coalition partyroom, said while he was no longer a member of the Nationals, he believed Mr Joyce had “a lot to offer this country ”.

The Australian was told NSW Nationals MP David Gillespie, a Joyce backer, called Mr McCormack a “liar” in Monday’s partyroom meeting when the leader claimed he had not endorsed Mr Drum to become deputy speaker.

Several sources said all six crossbench MPs voted for Mr O’Brien. There were 64 Labor MPs in the chamber, meaning five Coalition MPs backed Mr O’Brien over Mr Drum.