Farm visas: Party snipers take potshots at Nationals leadership

Scott Morrison’s refusal to commit to introducing a special visa for farm workers has exposed divisions within the Nationals party.

PM Scott Morrison during Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber, Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has been “walked all over” by Scott Morrison after the Prime Minister refused to back a Nationals plan to introduce a ­special visa for farm workers, ­according to colleagues.

Following a Nationals partyroom meeting yesterday and ahead of a crucial federal election for the country party, a Nationals MP told The Australian Mr McCormack was “ineffective” and “either unknown or a vote loser” in regional Australia.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.

Nationals federal director Ben Hindmarsh briefed Nationals MPs on polling commissioned in the key marginal Queensland seats of Capricornia, Flynn, Dawson, Hinkler and Wide Bay and the NSW seat of Cowper. The polling is also testing name recognition of local MPs.

Several Nationals MPs — including Veterans’ Affairs Minister Darren Chester, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister Andrew Broad and Assistant Minister for Children and Families Mich­elle Landry — publicly ­defended Mr McCormack against any suggestion his leadership was under threat.

A Nationals MP, who declined to be named, said former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce had been ringing around to garner support “for about three weeks”.

Another Nationals MP criticised Mr McCormack as “ineffective … Michael might be a nice bloke, but he’s also an ineffective nice bloke.

“He didn’t carve anything out of the Coalition agreement, and we’re not raising any money,” the Nationals MP said.

In question time yesterday, Mr Morrison came under pressure from Labor agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon, who asked whether the agriculture visa was “dead” or whether Mr Joyce was correct in telling The Australian “there’s no such thing as dead in politics”.

The Prime Minister said the government was focused on ­ensuring Australian jobs went to Australians first.

He said other workers would be sourced through the working holiday maker, seasonal worker and ­Pacific Islander labour schemes, and did not rule out introducing an agriculture visa in future, but made it clear that it was not a priority.

Mr McCormack said he was comfortable with Mr Morrison’s commitment to take action to resolve farm labour shortages and explore options to find seasonal workers, and acknowledgment of an issue that was important to ­regional Australia.

“Getting the actual issue of farm labour shortages resolved remains my primary concern and priority, no matter what title you give to the solution,” he said.