Nationals leader David Littleproud has confirmed the Nationals and Liberals have split, breaking the coalition between the parties which has been in effect since 1987.
Littleproud and newly elected Liberal leader Sussan Ley had been in negotiations for several days, trying to resolve the Coalition’s stance on several issues, including nuclear power.
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Littleproud told media the Nationals had reached “a position where we will not be re-entering a Coalition agreement with the Liberal Party after this election”.
“The National Party will sit alone on a principle basis,” he said.
“On the basis of looking forward, not having to look back and to try and actually regain important policy pieces that change the lives of the people we represent.“It’s on a principle position of making sure that those hard-fought wins are maintained and respected, we continue to look forward.”
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie suggested there had been a fallout with the Liberals over previously supported policies.
“A reasonable request was put to a trusted partner and it was refused,” she said.
“Policies that we had fought for, that only a few weeks ago, we fought an election on.”
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McKenzie said divestiture powers, nuclear power, its proposed regional Australia fund, and telecommunications coverage were key issues the Nationals refused to walk away from.
“Nuclear power—why in this day and age, as an industrial power we should not avail ourselves of the backyard we have of uranium, just like the UK, just like the USA, just like France, to provide a reliable, sustainable, affordable, low emission energy source into the next century—way beyond 2050?”
