David Gillespie withdraws from Nationals leadership ballot

Nationals MP David Gillespie confirms he won’t contest the leadership, opening the door for another contender to emerge.

Assistant Minister for Children and Families Dr David Gillespie has withdrawn from the Nationals leadership contest.

NSW Nationals MP David Gillespie has withdrawn from tomorrow’s leadership ballot after conceding he lacks the numbers, but has vowed to fight for a series of key issues including the creation of a new portfolio for federation reform.

“I am going to be withdrawing from the leadership ballot and I look forward to supporting whoever the party room chooses,” Dr Gillespie told The Australian.

Dr Gillespie, who has been the member for Lyne on the mid-north coast of NSW since 2013, campaigned for the Nationals Leadership on a “trifecta” of issues including federation reform, industrial relations reform and energy reform.

“Number one is fixing our dysfunctional federation and all the associated tax reform which is embedded in our federation,” he told The Australian. “Number two is industrial relations reform, particularly for small business.

“And number three is energy reform so that we have a functioning baseload system so we remain an industrial and first world economy. And we’re heading for a trainwreck if we don’t factor that into our obvious goals.”

NSW Nationals MP Michael McCormack has also publicly confirmed he will be running for the party leadership following the resignation of Barnaby Joyce over the political crisis triggered by his affair with former staffer, Vikki Campion.

Dr Gillespie’s withdrawal from the race opens the door for another contender to emerge, with Agriculture Minister David Littleproud being urged by several of his colleagues to throw his hat in the ring despite only entering parliament at the last election.

Federal Agricultural Minister David Littleproud is being urged to run by colleagues.

‘BARNABY’S A TEAM PLAYER’

Nationals MP Darren Chester — who was sent to the backbench by Mr Joyce when he took over Mr Chester’s portfolio of Infrastructure and Transport — said he expected Mr Joyce would keep his word about not sniping and be an asset on the backbench.

“I think in Barnaby and his new role on the backbench will demonstrate he has the capacity to continue to deliver for the New England area that he represents,” Mr Chester told the Nine Network.

“I’ve known Barnaby for 10 years. I’ve known him to be a team player who wants to see regional Australia get ahead.

“Despite what has gone on in the last few weeks his achievement has been solid

“I’m sure he’ll be a positive influence on the National Party from the backbench.”

‘I don’t know if Michael McCormack has the numbers’

Mr Chester said he would be backing Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack for the leadership in tomorrow’s party room meeting, but did not know whether he had the numbers to win.

“I don’t know if he has the numbers,” he said.

“My intention in backing Michael is simply try and build a consensus across our party room.

“We go through tomorrow’s party rooming meeting and come out with a united point of view: Back the leader, fresh start for The Nationals.

“We have a rich tradition in our party of fighting strongly as a united team. We need to make sure we do that.”

Darren Chester.

NEW LEADER ‘FROM NSW OR QUEENSLAND’

Mr Chester said the fact that he was from Victoria ruled him out of contention for the leadership.

“We have a deputy leader in Bridget McKenzie. She’s from Victoria. I’m Victorian,” he said.

Mr Chester said that of 21 National Party members and senators, eight were from Queensland, eight were from NSW, four were from Victoria and one was from the Northern Territory.

“It would be unrealistic to expect my colleagues to have the entire leadership team based in Victoria,” he said.

“We’re a party that needs to represent rural, regional and remote Australians.

“We’ve got to get out into central Queensland and NSW and northern Queensland and southern Victoria.

“It would be unrealistic to expect my team, my party, my colleagues to have both the leadership members coming from Victoria and I’m a realist in that regard.

“Bridget has been doing good job.

“She’s doing a good job at connecting to younger voters and to female voters in regional areas.

“She should stay in that role. We are looking for a leader from perhaps New South Wales or Queensland.”

Barnaby Joyce will join former prime minister Tony Abbott,on the back bench.

‘IT WILL BE THE MUPPET SHOW’

Meanwhile, Labor frontbencher Jason Clare has warned that Barnaby Joyce and Tony Abbott “will be like Statler and Waldorf from the Muppet Show” as they sit together on the backbench, but colleagues say they believe Mr Joyce will be a team player.

Mr Joyce will retire to the back bench tomorrow, having announced his resignation as deputy prime minister on Friday following sexual harassment allegations and his affair with pregnant former staffer Vikki Campion.

Mr Joyce on Friday promised not to “snipe” from the backbench, but Mr Clare said he expected him to follow the example of Mr Abbott who made a similar promise when he was rolled for the prime ministership by Mr Turnbull in 2015.

Mr Abbott this week clashed with cabinet ministers over immigration policy, reminding Scott Morrison, Mathias Cormann and Steven Ciobo that they are “only in government because I led them there” in a strongly-worded opinion piece in The Australian.

Mr Clare said Mr Abbott and Mr Joyce, who built a reputation for crossing the floor earlier in his career, would derail the government from the backbench.

“Just like Tony Abbott, you can expect (Mr Joyce) to fester and agitate and try to derail the government from there. They will be like Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show,” Mr Clare told ABC TV.

Mr Clare said Mr Joyce should have resigned or been sacked weeks ago, and the issue had become a “bleeding ulcer” for the government and wasted three weeks.

“The people of Australia have been trapped in Barnaby’s bedroom for three weeks with story after story about this, when we should be focused on more important issues,” he said.

Mr Clare said he did not expect the issues surrounding Mr Joyce to go away, ahead of the Nationals’ party room meeting tomorrow to decide their new leader.

“Whoever they elect tomorrow, that person can expect to get undermined by Barnaby Joyce,” he said.

WE’RE GETTING ON WITH IT: BISHOP

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said there had been some “difficult times” over the past few weeks and Mr Joyce’s affair had been “somewhat of a distraction.

“Barnaby Joyce has made a decision that he thinks it’s the best course of action to retire as deputy prime minister,” she said.

“I respect his decision, and he will now have time to be with those closest to him, and I think that’s something that he should be given time to enjoy with his very close family and friends.

“The National Party will elect a new leader tomorrow morning, and of course we have a Coalition that goes back generations.

“It is the most successful federal political movement in Australia’s history and will continue to be so.”

Ms Bishop said the government was focused on governing.

“I will not be distracted from my job as Foreign Minister and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, and tomorrow the Nationals will elect a new leader, and we get on with governing for the people of Australia,” she said.

Ms Bishop dismissed the notion that Mr Joyce and Mr Abbott could cause trouble on the backbench.

“Barnaby will be on the backbench with all of the other backbenchers,” she said.

“There are a number of them, and they will make a contribution to policy, they’ll make a contribution to the debate of ideas that we encourage within the Liberal-National Coalition.”