Nationals leader says he agreed to shadow cabinet solidarity | ABC NEWS

Summary

David Littleproud, the leader of the Nationals, discussed the coalition agreement talks with Susan Lee, highlighting a request for exemption from shadow cabinet solidarity. This could allow National MPs to vote against the shadow cabinet's positions in parliament. Although Susan Lee, the Liberal leader, expressed concerns about this lack of solidarity, Littleproud agreed with her fair response and chose not to pursue it in his party room. The disagreement partly stems from the Nationals' past opposition to certain policies, such as the voice to parliament, and current issues like climate policy and nuclear power. The situation remains tense as the two coalition partners struggle to align their agendas post-election.

Highlights

• David Littleproud requested Nationals' exemption from shadow cabinet solidarity.🗳️
• Susan Lee viewed the issue of shadow cabinet solidarity differently.⚖️
• Nationals' past lack of communication on voice to parliament highlighted.💬
• The Nationals demanded firm commitments on key policies from Liberals.🏛️
• Susan Lee aims to avoid renewed climate policy conflicts.🌿
• Recent party tensions contrast with previous joint government hopes.🤝

Key Takeaways

• David Littleproud wanted an exemption for shadow cabinet solidarity.📜
• Susan Lee did not feel she had an explicit agreement on solidarity.🤷‍♀️
• Nationals walked away based on four key policies lacking commitment.🚶‍♂️
• Liberals are reviewing policies after recent election losses.🔍
• Tensions rise over potential split in climate policy stance.🔥
• Collaboration hopes dashed as parties now diverge.🔄

Overview

David Littleproud, the Nationals' leader, held discussions with Susan Lee regarding coalition agreements, particularly focusing on shadow cabinet solidarity. Littleproud requested an exemption for the Nationals, allowing them to potentially vote against the shadow cabinet’s decisions. Although Susan Lee replied in a way Littleproud found satisfactory, she did not believe an explicit agreement was reached, highlighting ongoing tensions.

The Nationals' decision to distance themselves from the coalition hinges on getting solid commitments for four key policies, such as supermarket divestment powers and nuclear power. In contrast, the Liberals, led by Susan Lee, emphasized the need to review all policies due to their significant electoral loss, which the Nationals weren't supportive of, leading to friction.

Susan Lee is wary of potential splits, especially regarding climate policy, which she aims to keep unified under her leadership to prevent any new climate wars. Tensions between the Nationals and Liberals have intensified, making their divergent paths all the more intriguing given their recent ambitions to lead Australia together.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Exemption Request for Shadow Cabinet Solidarity David Littleproud discussed a request made during coalition agreement talks with Susan Lee. The request was for the Nationals to have an exemption from shadow cabinet solidarity. This would mean that even if an agreement was reached within the shadow cabinet, Nationals MPs might still vote against the shadow cabinet's position in parliamentary sessions. Littleproud confirmed that this was a formal request and mentioned that Susan Lee responded to it.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Response from Susan Lee In this chapter, a man reflects on a response from Susan Lee, which he considers fair. He agrees with her points and decides not to escalate the matter to his party room. He reflects on a past term of parliament, particularly during late 2022, highlighting the issue of shadow cabinet solidarity related to the voice to parliament, when the Nationals publicly expressed their stance.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Reflection on Previous Term Issues The chapter focuses on the political dynamics related to the opposition to the voice to parliament. There was a lack of communication as Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, was not given much notice about the decision. Susan Lee, the Liberal leader, noted the absence of an explicit agreement from the Nationals regarding shadow cabinet solidarity. Mr. a referred to Mr. Little Proud who addressed these issues.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Current Status and Littleproud's Statement In this chapter titled 'Current Status and Littleproud's Statement,' the discussion centers around the dynamics within the cabinet and the emphasis on maintaining cabinet solidarity. Littleproud mentions the importance of not having the cabinet's processes debated and finds Susan Lee's written response to be fair and reasonable. He highlights the need to anticipate issues that could potentially damage relationships within the cabinet. The chapter ends with the Nationals' decision to separate from the coalition, indicating a significant shift in political alliances.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Nationals' Key Policy Commitments The chapter titled 'Nationals' Key Policy Commitments' focuses on the Nationals' demand for firm commitments on four key policy areas. These policies include the use of divestiture powers to split large supermarket chains and the progression towards including nuclear power in the energy mix. The Liberals, following a significant electoral loss, advocated for a comprehensive review of all policies instead. The Nationals, however, emphasized retaining their four key policies and expressed dissatisfaction at not receiving the assurances they sought.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Liberals' Review and Nationals' Concerns The chapter discusses the tension within the former coalition, particularly between the Liberal side, represented by Susan Lee, and the Nationals. Susan Lee's office highlights shadow cabinet solidarity as a major issue, with concerns over potential splits from the Nationals on climate policy.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Liberals' Perspective and Climate Policy Concerns The chapter focuses on the Liberals' perspective regarding climate policy, emphasizing that under current leadership, there won't be a new climate war. It highlights the tensions and division that are emerging, which is notable given the recent collaborative ambitions of the two political parties to form a government. However, the direction has changed significantly since those discussions.

Nationals leader says he agreed to shadow cabinet solidarity | ABC NEWS Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 David Littleproud says that he did in these coalition agreement talks with Susan Lee. He did request that the Nationals could have an exemption to shadow cabinet solidarity. And what that would essentially be is that there could be an agreement reached in shadow cabinet, but then you could see national MPs potentially vote against the position of shadow cabinet on the floor of parliament. And so he says that was a request. He says Susan Lee wrote back to
• 00:30 - 01:00 him um and his he thought that response from Susan Lee was fair enough. He said he understood that and then agreed with what she said and therefore he didn't feel the need to take this further to his party room. And he did also point out that reflecting on the last term of parliament, he thought these sort of uh issue of shadow cabinet solidarity did become kind of prominent for him during the voice to parliament when in late 2022 the nationals came out and said
• 01:00 - 01:30 that they were going to oppose the voice to parliament and they hadn't really given Peter Dutton who was the opposition leader of course at the time much notice about that. So Mr. a little PL proud was reflecting on that this morning. But really, this has become quite an issue because Susan Lee, the now Liberal leader, says she didn't feel like she had an explicit agreement from the Nationals that they were going to secure this shadow cabinet solidarity. But Mr. Little Proud addressed it all
• 01:30 - 02:00 this morning. Here's him speaking. She made it very clear that the cabinet solidarity that we've had and the processes around that will remain. That's why it wasn't up for debate. I I think I thought it was fair and reasonable what Susan Lee put back uh in writing. Uh and I wanted to make sure that we had everything looked at in terms of is there is if something comes up, we didn't find ourselves in a situation that set our relationship back. So, the Nationals say their decision to walk away from the coalition really was
• 02:00 - 02:30 based around these four key policies that they wanted this solid commitment on. And that included things like devestature powers to be able to split up the supermarkets, but also uh progressing nuclear power as well. And so, the Liberals this whole time have been arguing that because of how significant the loss was just a few weeks ago, they wanted to put all of the policies up for review. But as the Nationals have been saying, well, we wanted to hang on to those four and they didn't think that they got the firm commitment that they wanted from the
• 02:30 - 03:00 Liberals. This is all very messy. What's the argument though from the other side of the the former coalition, the Liberal side? Yeah, that's right. So Susan Lee and her office say that this argu I suppose around a um shadow cabinet solidarity was a sticking point. And we've heard Susan Lee say in recent days when she's been questioned about it that there was a concern for her that there could be a split from the Nationals in terms of climate policy and she's been
• 03:00 - 03:30 really clear that there's not going to be a new climate war under her leadership. So look, the tensions are certainly still bubbling away and it's particularly interesting to watch this fall out because just a few weeks ago, obviously the two parties were hoping that together they could have formed government and led the Australian people, but now it's sort of headed in quite a different direction. Dan.