‘Legacy’: Nats leader defends leadership
David Littleproud has defended his leadership of the Nationals as he faces pressure from an unlikely alliance of former rivals.
Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack dropped a bomb in The Australian on Tuesday when they put aside old rivalries and joined forces to support a private member’s bill to repeal net-zero.
Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack are both now backbenchers, after being dumped from the shadow ministry following Peter Dutton’s emphatic election loss.
But leadership ambitions abound in the 19-member group in Canberra, as Mr McCormack refused to rule out a leadership tilt in his interview with The Australian.
“When a journo says ‘will you ever rule yourself out of ever (becoming leader)’, of course you are not going to agree to that,” he said.
“You’re not going to rule yourself out in the future.”
For his part, Mr Joyce said he would “happily back Michael for leader”, despite saying he was not agitating for any change.
It came alongside a bizarre moment in which Mr McCormack described himself and Mr Joyce as “virile” in an interview with Sky.
Under this increasing backbench pressure Mr Littleproud insisted he is not looking “over my shoulder” in an interview on the ABC.
“I look to making sure I’m focused on my job because if I’m focused on myself, I’m not focused on the people who put me here, and I’ll stand by my record as a Leader of The Nationals.”
He listed what he saw as his achievements such as introducing nuclear and supermarket divestiture into the Coalition platform and opposition to the Voice to Parliament.
He said instead of focusing on dissent from his backbench, he is “thinking about trying to leave a legacy for the people I lead”.
“No matter how long I’m here for, I want to be able to look back and say I did it in a respectful way.
“And what I’m focused on is delivering outcomes.
“I’ve created a process for a discussion within our party room.
“Backbenchers can have Private Members’ Bills, but I’ve got a lead for the entirety of my party, not for individuals.
“And so what I’ll do is make sure I listen to my party room and draw on the collective wisdom of that party room.
“That’s how I lead.”
Opposition to net-zero emissions targets by 2050 has become a sticking point for Nationals backbenchers, as it is seen by the party’s base to be harmful to their regional communities.
It has proved a problem for Liberal leader Sussan Ley who is trying to renegotiate the Coalition’s platform following its May 3 election defeat.
The division already caused a split in the Coalition as the Nationals and Liberal Party spent a week apart following the election.
Both parties reunited a week later with the Liberals making concessions to key Nationals policy priorities.
