The Nationals are poised to re-enter a formal coalition with the Liberal Party, following a week of internal negotiations and policy recalibrations that came after their recent abrupt split.
Nationals leader David Littleproud is expected to ask his party room to support a revised agreement when they reconvene as early as today. If approved, the deal will clear the way for the re-formation of the Coalition and the long-awaited unveiling of a new shadow cabinet under Liberal leader Sussan Ley.
Littleproud has said he has “comfort” with the terms of the revised arrangement, after the Liberals offered in-principle support for the Nationals’ core demands. These include lifting the federal ban on nuclear energy, establishing a $20 billion Regional Australia Future Fund, introducing divestiture powers to curb the dominance of large retailers, and ensuring reliable telecommunications access in regional and remote areas.
Though the Nationals have framed the outcome as a win, the revised terms contain subtle compromises. The Liberals, while agreeing to the policy framework, have pushed for added “guardrails”. They want spending from the proposed regional fund to be “equitable”, a nod to concerns about pork barrelling. They also insist divestiture powers be treated as a “last resort” and subject to a public interest test, to prevent sweeping impacts on businesses such as Ikea or Harvey Norman.
While the parties are aligned on lifting the decades-old ban on nuclear energy, they have not endorsed a plan for government-owned nuclear reactors—distancing themselves from proposals put forward earlier this year by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
The regional telecommunications guarantee has also been broadly accepted, although discussions are ongoing over its implementation details. Nevertheless, both parties appear determined to settle the matter quickly in order to reconstitute the Coalition and reassert a unified front against the Labor government.
Frustration has been growing within Liberal ranks over the delay in announcing a new shadow ministry. Several MPs are reportedly impatient, particularly as key appointments, including the likely promotion of new deputy leader Ted O’Brien to the shadow treasury role, remain in limbo.
Littleproud, however, remains defiant in the face of criticism. Speaking on Tuesday, he dismissed suggestions the Nationals had backtracked or conceded ground. “We did not blink,” he told Sky News. “We made it very clear that those four policy areas were the principle on which we left. If they were rectified then that would open up the opportunity to renegotiate.”
He stressed that all four issues are now being addressed to the Nationals’ satisfaction and that he will take the revised terms to his colleagues with confidence.
If the party room gives its approval, the new Coalition agreement could be signed within days, ending the brief but politically consequential rupture between the conservative partners and setting the stage for a renewed opposition strategy ahead of the next federal election.
