Nationals put squeeze on Michael McCormack; leadership strike tipped after Queensland election

Michael McCormack is facing a destabilisation campaign with rivals preparing for a leadership strike before Christmas.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Picture: Sean Davey.

Michael McCormack is facing a destabilisation campaign led by senior Nationals MPs and party figures, with rivals laying the groundwork for a leadership transition after the Queensland election.

The Australian understands senior Nationals and Liberals were expecting a leadership strike before Christmas over concerns the Deputy Prime Minister would be a “liability” for the ­Coalition ahead of the election, which could be held as early as the second half of next year.

Senior Nationals sources said high-profile campaigns on issues including border closure impacts, live cattle exports, regional airport funding and coal-fired power plants led by David Littleproud, Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan exposed Mr McCormack’s inability to “fight for the party’s base”.

Facing growing internal pressure over his leadership, Mr McCormack on Monday told The Australian he intended to “lead the party until the next election and beyond”.

“I won’t be drawn on unsubstantiated gossip from those unwilling to put their name to it — my only focus is on those regional Australians who are relying on the Nationals to continue delivering good government, keeping workers in work and businesses in business,” he said.

“The last thing our local communities want to hear is politicians talking about themselves and I won’t be engaging in that.”

Following Barnaby Joyce’s ­failed coup in February, senior ­Coalition figures told The Australian they expected Mr McCormack to vacate the leadership ahead of the next election.

At the time, Mr McCormack conceded “the leadership is the gift of the Nationals partyroom” and that “a week is a long time in ­politics”. On Monday, the defiant ­Nationals leader said 2020 had been a “year like no other” and he was fully committed to supporting “regional Australia recover as we build back better”.

Senior Nationals MPs said, with the Victorian COVID-19 second wave yet to be contained and the Queensland election on ­October 31, the view of most in the partyroom was to avoid damaging instability regardless of “frustrations” with Mr McCormack.

Mr Littleproud’s fight to protect agriculture workers and regional communities from border closures has been viewed by senior government figures as a demonstration he could cut through as leader. The deputy ­Nationals leader is also understood to have increased contact with colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sources close to Mr Littleproud said he wasn’t positioning and was “merely doing his job as Agriculture Minister”.

“That’s all there is to it,” the source said.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt, who has been described by senior government sources as a “strong performer in cabinet”, was also understood to be positioning for a tilt at the leadership in the event Mr McCormack moved on.

The Australian understands while there is no immediate move to spill Mr McCormack’s leadership, government figures would prefer a Nationals transition to occur before the cabinet ­reshuffle in December, when ­Finance Minister Mathias Cormann retires.

Senator McKenzie, who resigned from cabinet following the sports rorts scandal, has been ­active on key country party issues in recent months, maintaining her profile and leading successful campaigns. A senior Nationals source said Mr McCormack had been “missing in action”. “He has no cut-through. We need a leader who can push back against the Libs and deliver results for the Nats. There needs to be differentiation between the brands.”

Mr McCormack’s clash with NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro and the Nationals’ poor performance in the Eden-Monaro by-election also triggered splits inside the Riverina MP’s NSW Nationals organisation.