David Littleproud will remain the Nationals Leader after backbencher Colin Boyce unsuccessfully challenged his leadership on Monday afternoon.
Last week, Boyce announced he would challenge Littleproud because he believed the leader had “made some bad decisions recently.”
The leadership spill comes two weeks after the Nationals split from its Coalition partner, the Liberal Party, over a disagreement about hate speech reform.
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
In January, the Nationals broke from the Liberals over a bill to reform hate speech law following the Bondi terror attack.
After voting against the bill in the Senate, the Nationals members of the Shadow Cabinet resigned from their official positions. Party leader David Littleproud announced the Coalition had split the following day.
In a statement, he said: “Remaining in a Coalition with the Liberal Party under the leadership of Sussan Ley has become untenable and cannot continue.”
Boyce
Boyce has represented the central Queensland electorate of Flynn since 2022.
Boyce is a backbencher, meaning he has not been assigned to a portfolio. This means he was not part of the Shadow Cabinet that resigned in January, leading to the split.
In a Sky News interview last week , Boyce announced plans to challenge Littleproud’s leadership, saying: “If [the Nationals] follow the course they’re on now, we are going over the political cliff.”
Spill
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Boyce introduced a leadership spill motion to the Nationals party room on Monday afternoon.
This is a physical space in Parliament House where Nationals members discuss policy and leadership behind closed doors.
Before the meeting on Monday, Boyce told ABC radio: “David Littleproud will remain the leader and he will be comprehensively voted in”.
The Nationals voted in favour of keeping Littleproud as the leader of the party.
Comments
Boyce wrote in a post to Instagram he is “committed” to his electorate and will “advocate for... the core values of the National Party.”
Littleproud had not commented by the time of publication.
Speaking to Labor members ahead of the spill on Monday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “You can’t fight for Australia if you’re obsessed by fighting each other.”
Liberal party
Liberal leader Sussan Ley has also recently faced the possibility of a leadership spill.
Liberal MPs Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor met last week to discuss the party’s future leadership.
Hastie later said he wouldn’t challenge Ley, saying he did not have the support of enough MPs.
Ley has dismissed doubts surrounding her leadership, and says she is open to reunifying the Coalition. Multiple media outlets report she is set to meet with Littleproud on Monday night.
