Nats consider Coalition split on eve of leadership contest

Support for Matt Canavan for the National Party leadership will be ‘more than people expect’ but not enough to roll David Littleproud, who faces the challenge of a split from the Liberals.

Senator Matt Canavan has announced he would be making a run at the National Party leadership Picture: Fergus Gregg

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Support for Matt Canavan at Monday’s Nationals party leadership contest will be “more than people expect” but not enough to roll David Littleproud, who faces the challenge of a party split on the prospect of whether to stay in a Coalition with the Liberals.

As Anthony Albanese reveals his new ministry following factional brawls, the Nationals and Liberals will meet in Canberra in coming days to decide on the ­future of their respective parties after Labor’s election win.

Senator Canavan, a former minister in the Morrison government, earlier this week announced he would be making a run at the leadership and is so far the only member of the Nationals who has put up their hand to challenge Mr Littleproud.

Despite Mr Littleproud enjoying support from the majority of the partyroom, senior Nationals sources said he and his backers may be “surprised” by the number of people who would vote for Senator Canavan and that there was “discontentment in the partyroom, and not only from the usual ­customers”.

“I think you’ll have more than the four or five that say they’re voting for him,” one MP said.

“All of our party members and all of our party elected members should be demanding leadership that works, and no one should take it for granted, and they should ­always be questioned.”

Another MP said Mr Littleproud would likely stay on as ­leader but that there was “a lot to discuss post-election”.

“Once the Liberals pick their leader, the question is whether David will be leader at the next election,” a Nationals source said.

The Australian understands opposition trade spokesman and Page MP Kevin Hogan will run for the deputy leadership role and is Mr Littleproud’s preferred candidate.

Page MP Kevin Hogan.

Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie. Picture: ABC

Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie is likely to remain as the Nationals’ Senate leader while Darren Chester is understood to be after a more senior role.

Perin Davey, who missed out on a spot in the NSW Senate after falling to No 3 on the Coalition­­­ ­ballot, will have a vote in Monday’s partyroom meeting before her term expires on June 30.

Supporters of Mr Littleproud said he had been an “early mover on nuclear and the voice and secured support for the Nationals on divestiture and Regional Australia Future Fund”.

Despite the Nationals losing Senator Davey and Jacinta Price through her defection, and failing to win back Andrew Gee’s traditional Nationals seat of Calare or win Bendigo or Bullwinkel, Mr Littleproud’s supporters say the party hadn’t gone backwards in overall numbers since the 2007 election.

Nationals MP Anne Webster said Mr Littleproud had done “a very good job holding the team together and pulling us through a pretty awful election campaign”.

After Senator Price’s defection to the Liberals, some Nationals MPs said the party was now on track to lose one of the seven ­shadow cabinet spots they had in Peter Dutton’s opposition.

Nationals leader David Littleproud. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

The Australian understands that a determination on the major party status of the Nationals will occur over the next six weeks.

Former Nationals leader ­Michael McCormack, who confirmed he would not be joining the leadership race, said “time would tell” whether Mr Littleproud stayed in power for the rest of the term, particularly after the scale of the Coalition’s election defeat.

“The manner and margin of defeat surprised me,” he said. “I just hope the recriminations aren’t too bitter. I hope that the fallout isn’t too large that we just can’t get on with the job. We need to now not talk about ourselves, but we need to do a much better job of listening, go back to the drawing board and have a look at our policies.”

Other Nationals MPs also expressed a desire for the “naval-­gazing not to go on” too long or lead to a knee-jerk reaction like the splitting of the Coalition.

While some members of the party expressed concern over the reduction in relevance and impact the Nationals would have outside a formal Coalition, others stressed the party needed to find “its own way” for at least the first half of the current term of parliament.

“I won’t be surprised if we take a new direction … Certainly from our point of view, we need to be open to addressing everything: net zero, Paris, the Liberal arrangement, the Coalition as it stands. I think it’s perfectly the right time to be asking those questions,” Ms Webster said.

“The urban-rural divide has ­become wider and I think this election has made it very apparent. That’s what makes our Coalition uncomfortable because there are some in the Liberal Party in particular who are mindful of inner-city viewpoints – that’s not us, and we won’t be, you know, bending over backwards there.”

Another Nationals source said the idea of holding off on any ­Coalition agreement would give the two parties “breathing space” to find their own ground.