Nationals MP Colin Boyce has announced he will challenge David Littleproud for the party leadership, warning the party is heading for a 'political cliff' after ending the Coalition. Boyce, the member for Flynn, will move a spill motion at the party room meeting on Monday and stand as a contender.
Boyce told Sky News the Nationals were committing 'political suicide' by quitting the Coalition following Sussan Ley's acceptance of resignations from three senators who crossed the floor on hate speech laws. He argued the party would struggle to fundraise and lose resources if it went it alone, facing a 'right-flank onslaught' from One Nation.
Colleagues dismissed Boyce's prospects, with most backing Littleproud. Senator Bridget McKenzie said the challenge came 'out of the blue', while former leader Michael McCormack believed Littleproud was 'fairly safe' on numbers. Boyce did not attend the party room meeting where the Coalition split was decided.
Boyce, first elected in 2022, is a founding member of a club promoting climate science denial and had previously urged a 'do nothing' strategy on power outages to build opposition to net zero. He denied plans to defect to One Nation, despite a surge in support for the party in his electorate.
