The Liberal Party has reportedly agreed ‘in principle’ to the Nationals’ four key policies, paving the way for the Coalition to be patched up just days after it was blown apart.
Liberal Party Leader Sussan Ley will now negotiate a new Coalition agreement with the Nationals after their decision to split earlier this week.
Following a meeting on Friday afternoon, sources told The n that the Liberal party room had reached consensus despite ‘bad behaviour’ from the Nationals.
‘Sussan (Ley) has been authorised to negotiate a final landing on our behalf with David Littleproud,’ a senior Liberal source told the paper.
Nationals Leader Littleproud said his previous negotiations with Ley centred on four non-negotiable policies.
These included support for nuclear energy, break-up powers for supermarkets, a regional future fund and reliable telco coverage in rural areas.
The Nationals revealed on Tuesday they were breaking away from the Liberals, marking just the third time the Coalition parties have gone their separate ways in the last 80 years.
The move sent shockwaves through Canberra, with former Liberal leader and Prime Minister John Howard lashing the decision as a ‘stupid move’.
But overtures were made on Thursday when Littleproud said that his party was willing to accept Shadow Cabinet solidarity as part of a Coalition agreement.
This led Ley to invite the Nationals leader to ‘re-enter good-faith negotiations’, which he accepted.
‘It has always been the Liberal Party’s objective to form a Coalition and we welcome The Nationals’ decision to re-enter negotiations,’ Ley said.
The Coalition has only split three times in the last 100 years, with the last time occurring in 1987 over the ‘Joh for Canberra’ campaign, which pushed for Queensland National Party premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen to become Prime Minister.
Then, the two parties split for a matter of months before the rift healed after the 1987 federal election.
They also split after being defeated in the 1972 federal election but reunited ahead of the next election.