Nationals deputy leader David Littleproud has ended a week of speculation and confirmed he will challenge Barnaby Joyce for the leadership when the party meets for the first time following the Coalition’s election loss.
Gippsland MP Darren Chester has said he will also contest the leadership at the party-room meeting in Canberra on Monday, but the contest is expected to boil down to a head-to-head challenge between Joyce and Littleproud.
Deputy leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, campaigning in Shepparton during the federal election campaign. He will challenge Barnaby Joyce for the party leadership on Monday.Credit:Eddie Jim.
The votes are evenly poised, and the contest will go down to the wire.
“This afternoon, I advised Barnaby Joyce of my intention to nominate for the position of leader of the Nationals,” Littleproud said.
“I also took the opportunity to thank him for all his service to our party. I feel this is the appropriate time to put myself forward for my party room’s consideration as their leader.
“Ultimately, this is a decision on who will lead the Nationals to the 2025 election. Therefore, out of respect to my colleagues, I will be making no further public statements until after the meeting on Monday.”
Most observers inside and outside the Nationals’ party room believe the leadership represents a stark choice in the future direction of the party, and the flashpoint is climate policy.
Joyce’s perception as a fossil-fuel dinosaur featured prominently in the election campaign. Many in the Coalition believe his reputation became so toxic in Liberal electorates that it killed the Coalition’s chances of regaining government.
Joyce and his backers, who comprise roughly half the 21-member party room, claim leadership success in the election. The Nationals held all their 16 lower-house seats amid a widespread shift in the electorate in favour of progressive parties, which saw the Liberals lose at least 17 seats.
The other side of the party room says a leadership change is needed to correct the swing away from the Nationals, which saw the party go backwards in 12 of its 16 seats. Four formerly safe Nationals seats are now marginal.
“We are not the Liberals’ excuse – they must look at their own ship and own it,” Joyce told this masthead on Saturday.
Last Monday, Joyce signalled the Nationals’ support for net zero was again open for discussion following the election loss.
But Chester, Littleproud and former leader Michael McCormack, who was deposed by Joyce in a leadership spill last year, say the Nationals must remain aimed towards the “sensible centre” of politics.
Chester, McCormack and Littleproud back the bipartisan policy to hit net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 to give the Nationals – and the Coalition – a viable chance of winning a federal election.
“We can’t just point the finger at the Libs for those losses,” McCormack said on Tuesday.
“We gave people an excuse to park their votes with the teals [independents] and they did so in such numbers the Libs lost.”
Chester echoed McCormack’s remarks on Thursday.
“How we develop our policies, deliver our message, and work with our Coalition partners in the future will determine whether we can return to government and deliver for regional communities,” he said.
The Resolve Political Monitor, conducted for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age by research company Resolve Strategic, showed a strong negative perception of Joyce, who has a net rating of minus 29 per cent.
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2022-05-28 07:17:04Z
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