NSW Coalition in crisis: Calls for ‘disloyal’ John Barilaro to resign

NSW Police Minister David Elliott has demanded the Deputy Premier resign after his threats to take the Nats to the crossbench.

NSW Coalition showdown ... Nationals leader John Barilaro (left) and Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott has called on Deputy Premier John Barilaro to resign following his threats to take Nationals MP to the crossbench over koala protection policies.

Mr Elliott described the saga between Mr Barilaro and Premier Gladys Berejiklian, which played out in a series of tense morning negotiations, as “the greatest act of political bastardry in quite some time”.

“I think the disloyalty we’ve seen out of the deputy premier makes his position untenable, and I also believe that what we’ve seen out of Gladys Berejiklian today is don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.”

Mr Elliott made the comments to journalists while on a tour of regional NSW. He said Mr Barilaro’s threats were “unnecessary” and “brought on by ego”.

“You need to know when you’re dealing with Gladys Berejiklian and her team, she will allow you to articulate in a debate, she will certainly allow you to take part in a debate, but don’t make threats that you can’t follow through - and that’s what we saw today.”

Barilaro backs down: Nats stay in Coalition

The NSW Nationals have backed down on their threat to sit on the crossbench of parliament over koala protection laws and agreed to support the Berejiklian government until the next election, following a meeting between the premier and her deputy in Sydney this morning.

The meeting was held after a 9am deadline that was set by the premier who demanded all Nationals MPs support government legislation in parliament or risk being sacked from her ministry.

A source familiar with the discussion in the premier’s office said the agreement depended on conditions being finalised between Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Nationals leader John Barilaro. These were still being negotiated, they said.

Earlier partyroom deliberations, held by the Nationals at 8am, had initially seen a commitment to hold firm to their threat, sources familiar with the discussion said.

But by 9.30am there had been an about-face from Mr Barilaro who had met with Ms Berejiklian and commited to supporting government legislation until the next election.

The party on Thursday said it would abstain from voting on all government legislation but would reserve the right to do so for matters pertaining to regional voters.

Premier Berejiklian had warned she would sack her Nationals colleagues from their ministries unless they retreated from threats to move to the crossbench over koala protection laws.

Ms Berejiklian issued a three-line statement at midday saying the coalition agreement remained in place with the Nationals.

“This includes a commitment to supporting Cabinet conventions and processes. The matter will be dealt with at an upcoming meeting.”

The Australian understands that a meeting of senior government officials will begin work on a cabinet submission relating to the contentious koala protection policies later this afternoon.

The standoff has badly strained relations between Ms Berejiklian and Mr Barilaro. At one stage yesterday afternoon, Ms Berejiklian walked into a room where Mr Barilaro was meeting fellow senior Nationals and said words to the effect that she had “never been so disgusted in my three-plus years working with you”. She is understood to have said Mr Barilaro should “withdraw your threat or I want your resignation on my desk at 9am tomorrow morning”.

Mr Barilaro confirmed the confrontation during a Sky News interview on Thursday night, telling host Alan Jones: “It was a very abrupt meeting and she followed up with a statement in the public domain.”

Ms Berejiklian’s statement told her Coalition colleagues they would be sacked from cabinet if they persisted with their move to sit on the crossbench.

“I am and always have been a strong Coalitionist and deeply respect the National Party and all it stands for,” Ms Berejiklian said. “It is my strong preference that existing Coalition arrangements stay in place. However, I have just made it clear to the Deputy Premier that he and his Nationals colleagues who are members of the NSW cabinet have until 9am Friday 11 September to indicate to me whether they wish to remain in my cabinet or else sit on the crossbench. They cannot do both.”

Ms Berejiklian continued: “If required, I will attend Government House tomorrow and swear in a new ministry.”

In addition to Mr Barilaro, the Nationals hold six ministries — Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole; Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell, Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey; Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall; Minister for Innovation Kevin Anderson; Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women Bronnie Taylor.

The Nationals had vowed to boycott upcoming partyroom meetings with the Liberals and parliamentary leadership meetings, though they were intent on remaining in cabinet to vote on matters vital to regional NSW.

The Australian understands the Nationals were considering taking up a renewed offer from the Premier to negotiate, with further meetings now slated with senior Liberal MPs.

An official said these meetings would be used to agree to a timeframe under which the koala habitat policies would be refined.

John Barilaro leaves crisis talks last night. Picture: Christian Gilles

The crisis threatened to plunge the government into turmoil given the NSW Liberals and Nationals together hold power with a two-seat majority. The Nationals hold 13 seats in the lower house and six seats in the upper house.

Feuding over koala habitat protections publicly erupted a week ago when backbench NSW Nationals threatened to move to the crossbench over frustrations with the policy.

The Nationals say the policy unfairly affects regional and rural populations, and disadvantages farmers and homeowners by giving inordinate priority to koala habitats requiring protection.

Known as the State Environmental Planning Policy Koala Habitat Protection, or SEPP44, the koala protection policy took effect on March 1 in the aftermath of the Black Summer bushfires amid deepening concerns over dwindling koala numbers.

A year-long parliamentary inquiry recently concluded that, without urgent action, the state’s koala population would be decimated and they could become extinct by 2050.

The policy, part of a broader government strategy to protect the animals, was signed off in early December by a cabinet subcommittee of MPs that included Mr Barilaro; it was then signed off by the NSW Governor in the presence of senior Nationals MPs. As the grievances of some Nationals MPs gathered momentum Mr Barilaro also began to call on the Premier to recall the cabinet so the policy could be discussed. Ms Berejiklian rebuffed that call and said that she would instead revisit the matter at the next scheduled sitting of cabinet.

At its heart of the debate is the policy’s expansion of feed trees used by koalas.

Under the previous policy there were 10 listed tree species requiring protection. The new policy increases this number to 123 trees across areas such as the Riverina, central coast and other regions of NSW.

The Nationals have been asking for a significant reduction to the number of protected trees, along with other concessions that Planning Minister Rob Stokes has been attempting to address. Ms Berejiklian this week praised Mr Stokes for his efforts with the negotiations.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her deputy John Barilaro. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

But on Thursday Mr Barilaro said these concerns had not been considered, and listed a multitude of problems with the planning policy. Mr Stokes subsequently published an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald several hours later debunking numerous claims made by Mr Barilaro.

As the situation deteriorated, Liberal MP Catherine Cusack openly called for Mr Barilaro to step aside, while Mr Barilaro was himself vowing that his party would no longer vote with the government on key issues. “We will be abstaining from supporting any government legislation or bills,” he said.

The Nationals had planned to introduce a bill into the NSW parliament on Tuesday to repeal the koala planning policy but this is unlikely to proceed.