Sussan Ley, the Liberal Party leader, has said David Littleproud turned down her offer for last-minute peace talks ahead of parliament's return next week. The Nationals leader, however, says a meeting will be scheduled once his party's upcoming leadership contest is resolved.
In a letter to Liberal MPs, Ley said she had proposed a meeting without preconditions to discuss the two parties' relationship after last week's Coalition breakup. Littleproud rejected the offer because his focus was on a motion to spill the Nationals leadership, to be moved by backbencher Colin Boyce at a party room meeting on Monday.
Littleproud issued a statement calling it 'inaccurate' to suggest the Nationals rebuffed the request. 'Today, a spill motion was called for the next Nationals' Party Room meeting on Monday. For that reason, it is important to now respect the process,' he said. 'Once the spill motion is determined ... a time will be scheduled.'
Boyce, the MP for Flynn, accused Littleproud of leading the party off a 'political cliff' after the split with the Liberals, which he described as 'political suicide'. He again denied speculation he planned to defect to One Nation. Senior Nationals Matt Canavan and Darren Chester ruled out running for the leadership, with Chester scathing of Boyce's bid.
Ley told Liberal MPs that the party would 'talk to whoever the Nationals elect as their leader', signalling she remained open to reuniting the Coalition. Her decision to accept resignations of three Nationals senators who crossed the floor on Labor's hate speech laws prompted the entire Nationals frontbench to quit, blowing up the Coalition. The failure to arrange talks means Ley is expected to announce a Liberal-only frontbench ahead of parliament's return on Tuesday.
Speculation that Ley's leadership would also be challenged next week has quietened, with likely contenders Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie yet to publicly confirm their intentions.
