Federal Liberal leader Sussan Ley laid down the law to The Nationals on the late-night bills before the Senate on Tuesday night by issuing her party line voting directive. Only to see three Nationals Senators with shadow cabinet positions cross the floor and vote against Labor’s hate speech reforms.
Liberal leader Sussan Ley moved quickly to remove the three Nationals Senators from the coalition shadow cabinet, but it is uncertain if she realised at the time that action would in fact mean a likely implosion of the Coalition.
By Wednesday night the eight remaining National Party frontbenchers – including leader David Littleproud – resigned from the the Coalition shadow, casting doubt on the future of Sussan Ley’s tenure as leader of the Liberals.
The Federal Liberal party and The Nationals have backtracked to the position they were in in May 2025 when the coalition partnership that lasted for over 60 years was dissolved due to out-of-line policies,
The move marked a seismic change in the country’s political landscape, just weeks after a federal election that saw the Federal Labor Albanese government win a second term with a landslide of votes.
The Federal Liberal party led by Peter Dutton took a caning and were reduced to 28 out of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, its worst result in history. While Labor increased its tally to 94 seats from 77, gaining its largest-ever majority in an Australian election. The National Party retained its 15 seats.
However, never-say-never in politics as the Coalition was back within days of a kiss and make-up with Sussan Ley determined to take on and change the commanding public sentiment that favoured the Albanese Federal Labor party.
The Liberal Party handed all its cards to Sussan Ley, the party’s first woman leader. And tasked the former outback pilot with impressive finance degrees to recover the lost seats with a thrust toward gender equality and climate change reforms.
However, the leader slated to rebuild the Liberal party will now have to make that journey without the support of The Nationals, and more ironically against another female party leader in Pauline Hansen.
The biggest winner from the Coalition split was One Nation. With 30 years parliamentary experience under her belt, Pauline Hansen has positioned One Nation as the closest vote getter behind Labor, according to the latest Newspoll.
In the poll, Labor’s support slipped to 32% of the national vote, with One Nation on 22% carving a niche into second polling position, ahead of what was the Coalition at the time on 21%. With the Greens on 12% and Others 13%.
The Catch 22 to this scenario is that while Pauline Hansen has held a seat in the Senate since 2016, One Nation does not have even one-seat in the House of Representatives, the only place where a Federal government can be formed.
Statement from The Nationals gives reasons behind the split
The Nationals’ Party Room has determined that remaining in a Coalition with the Liberal Party under the leadership of Sussan Ley has become untenable and cannot continue.
Opposing Labor’s poorly drafted hate laws was a principled decision of The Nationals’ Party Room, made in the national interest.
Our priority is keeping Australians safe against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. We will always stand with the Jewish community against the scourge of antisemitism.
We support legislative measures that protect against this threat, but they must be right.
The Nationals abstained from voting against the legislation in the House of Representatives until we could move amendments in the Senate that provided protections against potential unintended consequences to the rights and freedoms of everyday Australians.
When these amendments were voted down, in line with our Party Room’s clear decision and direction, the four National Party Senators voted against the Bill.
The entire National Party shadow ministry is equally bound and committed to this decision, made after extensive and considered deliberation.
The Nationals’ Senate team acted in the national interest. This legislation was too important to risk getting wrong.
Sussan Ley has put protecting her own leadership ahead of maintaining the Coalition.
This week, the Australian parliament should have come together to make Australia safer and protect the freedoms that we have enjoyed since before federation.
What has resulted, however, is the passing of a Bill that, while well-intentioned, is seriously flawed, pushed through Parliament in pursuit of a contrived political deadline.
The parliament could not properly scrutinise this critical Bill.
Sussan Ley’s handling of this Bill has been regrettable. The Nationals’ resignations from the Shadow Ministry were entirely preventable.
The Nationals will always act in the national interest and will always protect everyday Australians’ freedoms. On Tuesday, after very careful deliberations, The Nationals’ Party Room made the decision to vote against the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws Bill 2026).
The Nationals strongly dispute Ms Ley’s account of the Shadow Cabinet discussions. The usual Coalition process was not adhered to through proper Shadow Cabinet or Joint Party Room.
The Nationals members of Shadow Cabinet did not endorse the Government’s Bill. It discussed the general principles only. The final form of the Bill was not brought back to Shadow Cabinet or the Joint Party Room for consideration.
This was a failed process, inconsistent with standard practice and reflects Ms Ley’s management of the Shadow Cabinet.
The Nationals Party Room identified significant concerns with the Bill. These issues were raised with the relevant Shadow Ministers, who then worked with the government to seek improvements.
However, the Shadow Ministers were unable to provide assurance to The Nationals’ Party Room that all unintended consequences, including potential impacts on everyday Australians’ freedoms, had been adequately addressed.
As Shadow Ministers, Senators McKenzie, McDonald and Cadell offered their resignations to maintain their personal integrity, despite the Party Room’s view that the normal process was not followed.
Sussan Ley was advised in writing that if she accepted the resignations of the three shadow cabinet ministers who voted against the Bill in the Senate, the entire National Party ministry would resign to take collective responsibility.
That has now occurred. The Nationals will continue to work on developing policies, like our Cheaper, Better, Fairer Energy and Climate plan, that will help Australians deal with the cost of living and protect Australian jobs and our way of life.
We will protect the interests of regional Australians and the rights and freedoms of everyday Australians. We will sit and operate separately from the Liberals in both chambers of parliament.
