National and Liberal MPs are calling for a united front against Labor as a common enemy despite a growing rift since the parties split.
Their coalition fell apart days after Sussan Ley was chosen as Liberal leader, with the Nationals pulling the plug on the decades-long marriage.
Now the conservative parties are in a contest for political staff as both prepare to unveil separate shadow ministries in coming days.
The Liberals make up the official opposition as the largest non-government party, a point Ms Ley was keen to point out after the split as she prepares to name an all-Liberal shadow cabinet.
The prime minister determines staffing allocations for the opposition and minor parties, and the break-up can alter how many people the Nationals and Liberals can hire separately.
Anthony Albanese said he has had discussions with both the National and Liberal leaders.
“It’s not reasonable that there be more staff or a reward, if you like, for the fact that you have this division,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
The official opposition is allocated about one-fifth of the government’s staffing allocations, which are then distributed to shadow ministers to allow for scrutiny.
Liberals argue diluting the entitlements in favour of a higher Nationals allocation would mean fewer staff for shadow ministers and less scrutiny.
Minor parties and independents have separate staffing allocations, which the Nationals now need to navigate with the prime minister.
Liberals are scathing that the regional party wanted to lock in a policy commitment so soon after a bruising election defeat. The Liberals suffered their worst loss of the post-war era at the May 3 election.
The Nationals had wanted the Liberals to agree to four policies: a commitment to nuclear energy, divestiture powers against supermarkets, phone coverage across Australia and a regional investment fund.
The impasse was over the Liberals saying they could not lock in any policies without a partyroom debate after a resounding election loss.
The two parties meet to nut out an agreement after every election, which covers matters such as how many leadership positions each get and what portfolios.
Liberals say this does not include locking in specific policies as these are discussed in joint party rooms later on, meaning the Nationals had pre-determined a break-up by ending negotiations so soon.
Nationals leader David Littleproud maintained the split was on principle over the policy issues and pledged to still work with the Liberals, saying he wouldn’t be “unrealistic or stupid”.
“The enemy is still Labor,” he said.
Being a coalition is the best way to counter a Labor government with a commanding majority in the lower house, Liberal MP Dan Tehan said.
“The longer this goes on, the harder it is then to bring it back together,” he told Sky News.
Liberal senator James Paterson said it isn’t in either party’s interest to fight each other when the real enemies are Labor, the Greens and teal independents.
“We’re not looking for any other political opponents,” he told FIVEAA radio.
But not all Liberals are upset, saying it gives their party a chance to develop its own policies.
Liberal MP Tim Wilson branded the split “a really exciting opportunity as a Liberal Party to find out our liberal mojo juice again”.
Other members went further, with one Liberal source saying it was beneficial to develop a more progressive climate policy as the party room would never stomach walking back a commitment to a net-zero emissions target – something being sought by some Nationals members.
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