00:00Today, Nationals backbencher Colin Boyce is expected to move a leadership spill motion,
00:08which is effectively a declaration that the leadership of the Nationals party should be
00:12up for grabs.
00:13Now, interestingly, Colin Boyce has made it clear that he doesn't actually expect to win
00:17any leadership spill.
00:19He said that he doesn't want the leadership for himself, but this is all about venting
00:24frustration over the coalition split after the Nationals walked away from the Liberal
00:28Party due to a dispute over Labor's hate speech laws.
00:32Now, at the time, Nationals leader David Littleproud said that the coalition cannot be reunited
00:38as long as Susan Lee remains leader of the Liberal Party.
00:42And then last week, Queensland MP Colin Boyce surprised many of his colleagues by announcing
00:48on live television that he will move a leadership spill motion, effectively saying there's been
00:54too much drama under David Littleproud as leader of the National Party.
00:58Colin Boyce spoke to the ABC yesterday where he outlined his motivations.
01:03This has never been about me being the leader of the National Party.
01:08This is about trying to convince my colleagues that something needs to be done.
01:12We are at the 11th hour.
01:14And if we are to go to the next federal election as a party, the National Party, as a separate
01:20entity, that creates an enormous amount of problems.
01:23Now, this leadership spill is not likely to actually change the leader, but it is an attempt
01:30to destabilise David Littleproud, and it could even open the door for a potential challenger
01:36to move.
01:37Nationals Deputy Leader Kevin Hogan says that he backs David Littleproud.
01:41He also said that he wants the Nationals to be reunited with the coalition.
01:45But only if the three senators who broke shadow cabinet solidarity and lost their jobs are
01:52reinstated to Susan Lee's front bench.
01:55Kevin Hogan spoke to the ABC earlier this morning where he outlined his position.
01:59When David is successful today, he will sit down with Susan as soon as possible and have
02:04discussions about how we can do what we can do going forward.
02:07But I say, you know, not to be tricky, not to be ultimatums, but obviously we believe
02:13that those three senators in good faith have to be reinstated because they are reflecting
02:16a party room position.
02:18And Sam, what's going on with the Libs?
02:21Well, as we know, the Liberal Party is facing its own leadership instability.
02:27Susan Lee was undermined yet again last week when senior conservatives Angus Taylor and
02:32Andrew Hastie attended a private meeting in Melbourne alongside other senior conservatives,
02:37including Senators John O'Donoghue and James Patterson, ahead of a funeral for former Liberal
02:43MP Dr Katie Allen, who died of a rare form of cancer.
02:48Andrew Hastie has since pulled out of the race, saying that it's clear that he doesn't
02:52have the support.
02:53That's now clear the runway for senior conservative Angus Taylor to make a tilt for the leadership,
02:59although he is yet to declare his intentions.
03:01Supporters of Mr Taylor have told the ABC that they don't anticipate a leadership spill
03:07to happen this week, but they did not rule out a leadership spill potentially happening
03:11the week after.
03:13Now, some moderate Liberal MPs, including Senator Andrew Bragg, have expressed some frustration
03:19about conservatives making it about them rather than focusing on policy.
03:25Here's what he had to say.
03:26Whether it's red tape production or housing or infrastructure or whatever the policies
03:32are, that's going to be the focus of our efforts.
03:35And I really do think that people will mark us down if we appear to be more like a Days
03:41of Our Lives episode than a policy offering machine.
03:44For now, opposition leader Susan Lee has announced a temporary Liberals-only acting shadow ministry,
03:52but she has offered the Nationals an ultimatum saying, get back with the coalition or risk
03:57missing out on Cabinet positions.
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