Speaker 1: The coalition is back together and looking to the future,
Speaker 1: not the past.
Speaker 2: It's been just over two weeks since the Liberal and
Speaker 2: National Party's dramatic split, and now the coalition is back together.
Speaker 1: We did have differences, David and I and our party rooms.
Speaker 1: We've resolved those differences.
Speaker 2: Susan Lee and David Little Proud insists they're now solid,
Speaker 2: guaranteeing that after two coalition splits in the space of
Speaker 2: a year, this time there'll be no more breakups.
Speaker 1: We've strengthened our processes and we're going forward as a
Speaker 1: united coalition to take the fight up to labor On
Speaker 1: behalf of millions of Australians who are cheering us on.
Speaker 2: I'm Nicole Johnston and you're listening to seven AM Today
Speaker 2: Press Gallery journalist Karen Middleton on how the coalition got
Speaker 2: back together after their big blow up and whether this
Speaker 2: time it's for good. It's Monday, February nine. Karen, it
Speaker 2: was pretty short lived as far as breakups go, just
Speaker 2: over two weeks. They're now back together. How did we
Speaker 2: get here and could you tell us what happened?
Speaker 3: Well, well, how we got here is a long and
Speaker 3: winding road, Nicole. This is the second breakup and the
Speaker 3: second reconciliation in nine months, and we're supposed to believe
Speaker 3: it all is forgiven and everything is fine. Now it's
Speaker 3: happy families again and they'll be working for the Australian
Speaker 3: people and the Australian people can rely on that. I
Speaker 3: think we might need a little more evidence than that,
Speaker 3: to be honest, after the ructions of the last nine months,
Speaker 3: where we got to I guess was we saw the
Speaker 3: most recent bust up three weeks ago now, when the
Speaker 3: government brought the new hate speech laws into the Parliament.
Speaker 3: The Nationals insisted there wasn't enough time, and in the
Speaker 3: end that three of their shadow ministers crossed the floor
Speaker 3: in the Senate and we're basically forced to resign from
Speaker 3: the shadow ministry, as is the convention. That's where the
Speaker 3: fund began. They said they shouldn't be forced to resign
Speaker 3: or shouldn't be sacked, and all the Nationals from the
Speaker 3: front bench walked out and the coalition collapsed again. So
Speaker 3: now we're supposed to believe that everything's been sorted out
Speaker 3: in the last couple of weeks, especially in the last
Speaker 3: few days in conversations back and forth.
Speaker 2: Don't worry about it. We're good mouth and from what
Speaker 2: you've heard, how tense were these negotiations.
Speaker 3: They've become increasingly colorful, according to news reports. News dot
Speaker 3: com Au reported, for example, that at one point David
Speaker 3: Little Proud shouted at Susan Lee.
Speaker 2: Resign, resign, resign, and then the Nine.
Speaker 3: Papers have suggested that in response, Susan Lee said, well,
Speaker 3: you've given me an assessment of my leadership, let me
Speaker 3: give you an assessment of yours. So you know, no
Speaker 3: love lost really at a personal level between the two
Speaker 3: of them, and yet somehow we have reached this mutually beneficial,
Speaker 3: it seems, agreement and everyone's meant to believe it's going
Speaker 3: to be fine. You can tell, probably by my tone
Speaker 3: that I'm struggling to be convinced.
Speaker 2: So in terms of this agreement, though, what's in it?
Speaker 2: What have they actually come up with.
Speaker 3: Well, they've agreed that the three Nationals front benches will
Speaker 3: only be suspended from the Shadow ministry for six weeks.
Speaker 3: Originally it was going to be six months, but really
Speaker 3: under the convention that has existed since they were in coalition,
Speaker 3: it should be they're out. So they've negotiated and horse
Speaker 3: traded on that and got to a six week deal.
Speaker 3: That means that all the Nationals shadow ministers will become
Speaker 3: shadow ministers again as of the first of March, and
Speaker 3: that means that the acting arrangements that Susan Lee has
Speaker 3: put in place with her Liberal front bench will end
Speaker 3: on that date. There are a couple other provisions, such
Speaker 3: as the shadow ministers will be required to sign an
Speaker 3: agreement adhering to shadow cabinet solidarity that's supposed to make
Speaker 3: sure that this kind of a a breach of the
Speaker 3: party position doesn't happen again and neither party is able
Speaker 3: to override the other. And they're going to have a
Speaker 3: sort of a note taking a minute taking arrange and
Speaker 3: in shadow cabinet to take note formally of decisions made.
Speaker 3: I guess that's so that nobody can come back later
Speaker 3: and so hang on, we didn't agree to that, So
Speaker 3: that's what they're calling a strengthening of processes.
Speaker 2: So at the end of the day, who do you
Speaker 2: think of the better deal?
Speaker 3: Well, that's the interesting question, isn't it. I think they've
Speaker 3: both reached a deal because suited them to do that
Speaker 3: more than staying apart. I'm not really sure what the
Speaker 3: Nationals achieved by walking out the way they did. The
Speaker 3: people are still being suspended, albeit for a shorter time.
Speaker 3: They're now being forced to sign up to arrangements on
Speaker 3: shadow cabinet, where the shadow cabinet arrangements were more loose before.
Speaker 3: So I don't know what they've gained by.
Speaker 2: That, Susan Lee.
Speaker 3: I guess has gained the restoration of the coalition, which
Speaker 3: was something that senior liberals were calling for, the likes
Speaker 3: of John Howard, for example, former Prime Minister, saying, you know,
Speaker 3: we need a coalition back together. Mind you, there were
Speaker 3: some other senior liberals in recent days saying maybe we
Speaker 3: need some time apart, maybe this has one too many
Speaker 3: chansions from the Nationals and it's time we stood back
Speaker 3: and worked out what we actually believe in.
Speaker 2: So David Little Proud said he could guarantee there'd be
Speaker 2: no more breakups.
Speaker 3: It looked ugly, but we've had the courage to come
Speaker 3: back and say we're going to make sure it never
Speaker 3: happens again.
Speaker 2: Is that realistic given the personal differences here, because it's
Speaker 2: only just been over two weeks since they resigned.
Speaker 1: Our party room has made it very clear we cannot
Speaker 1: be part of a shadow ministry under Susan Lee.
Speaker 2: What's changed since then?
Speaker 3: Well, this is the credibility problem that David Little Proud
Speaker 3: in particular faces. He has made a lot of strong statements,
Speaker 3: particularly the one you just cited, the coalition could not
Speaker 3: reform under seasonally. Apparently now that's all changed because they've
Speaker 3: had some face to face conversations and they've looked each
Speaker 3: other in the eye and they've got each other's measure
Speaker 3: and he absolutely trusts the Liberal Party and.
Speaker 2: The leader of the Liberal Party.
Speaker 3: Now, well, I just think it stretches credibility and I
Speaker 3: think the Australian people, those who pay any attention to
Speaker 3: this at all, will be saying, hang on a minute,
Speaker 3: like one minute you're saying one thing and another minute
Speaker 3: you're saying another thing. How did we get this all
Speaker 3: patched up so quickly? And isn't this really just a
Speaker 3: matter of expediency for both of you. I think they've
Speaker 3: lost a huge amount of credibility all round from these shenanigans,
Speaker 3: and I struggle to believe that this will be the
Speaker 3: end of it.
Speaker 2: What was your response or what did you think when
Speaker 2: you heard both of them say in the press conference
Speaker 2: I trust him I trust the party.
Speaker 1: Yes, one hundred percent. I trust David and I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be standing here today if I didn't trust Susan Lene,
Speaker 1: I didn't trust the Liberal Party.
Speaker 2: How did you find that vibe? Well, I just don't
Speaker 2: believe it. It's a statement of convenience.
Speaker 3: How can Susan Lee trust someone who's walked out on
Speaker 3: her twice and then come back saying oh, it's forgiven twice,
Speaker 3: and just three weeks ago said can't be part of
Speaker 3: anything that she leads and has given off contemptuous vibes
Speaker 3: about her. He does not behave like he likes her
Speaker 3: or that he respects her. There's an awful lot of
Speaker 3: discomfort all round in the Liberal Party and in some
Speaker 3: parts of the Nationals about the way he refers to
Speaker 3: her and behaves towards her. He uses the word respect
Speaker 3: all the time, but the way he is when he
Speaker 3: talks about her does not give off that indication. So
Speaker 3: I think we will see how it goes. But if
Speaker 3: I were her, I'd be a bit wary, and if
Speaker 3: I was him, I'd be thinking will she be here?
Speaker 2: And do I want her to be here?
Speaker 3: Well, that's a question only David Little praud can answer
Speaker 3: for himself, but you've got to wonder whether he's thinking
Speaker 3: a few steps ahead and planning for another Liberal Party.
Speaker 2: Partner coming up. Can Lee stay impact Karen? There had
Speaker 2: been this speculation that Angus Taylor could challenge Susan Lee
Speaker 2: for the leadership this week. So what does this development
Speaker 2: mean for her position and does it keep the sharks
Speaker 2: from circling for now?
Speaker 3: Well, that's the question, and the suggestion has been that
Speaker 3: she was motivated to do this deal because she risked
Speaker 3: Angus Taylor quitting the front bench if she didn't and
Speaker 3: then bringing on a challenge this week. Now, has this
Speaker 3: stopped that from recurring? Maybe maybe it's still aid things.
Speaker 3: Maybe it hasn't. You could argue, had she held out
Speaker 3: and told David Little Proud no, she wasn't going to
Speaker 3: reform the coalition and reallocated those Nationals front bench seats
Speaker 3: to Liberals, then she would have half a dozen or
Speaker 3: so more Liberals beholden to her for a front bench position,
Speaker 3: and Angus Taylor would be in the position of having
Speaker 3: to decide, well, if he challenges is he offering those
Speaker 3: people positions again or is he going to pull them
Speaker 3: back and try and reform the coalition, and so that
Speaker 3: means there would have been a half dozen liberals also
Speaker 3: who owed their front bitch positions to Susan Lee. Now
Speaker 3: you know that's just a counter narrative. It just tells
Speaker 3: you there are a number of different ways of looking
Speaker 3: at things, and I don't know that you can be
Speaker 3: certain that this move in reforming the coalition at this
Speaker 3: time in this way has stopped any chance of a
Speaker 3: challenge to her leadership.
Speaker 2: If we could broaden it out a bit to the
Speaker 2: Albanezi government, they've had this brief reprieve with the coalition
Speaker 2: in crisis. Will they now have to watch their backs
Speaker 2: again or will they be looking to find a way
Speaker 2: to try and exploit any cracks.
Speaker 3: So I think all political parties are looking to exploit
Speaker 3: cracks in other political parties. They need to make sure
Speaker 3: they don't overplay their hand. Though they couldn't help themselves
Speaker 3: with a few funny one liners in Parliament last week,
Speaker 3: just drawing attention to the shambles on the other side.
Speaker 3: But I don't think they'd want to keep doing that
Speaker 3: for too much longer, because they're the ones in charge
Speaker 3: and they need to focus on the economy and improving
Speaker 3: things around the country. So I think a little bit
Speaker 3: of leeway to have a joke at the expense of
Speaker 3: the other side. But if you keep doing it, your
Speaker 3: own credibility starts to be questioned, because you've got a
Speaker 3: big job to do and you should focus on that.
Speaker 3: So I don't know that they're going to be pushing
Speaker 3: things much further, but you can't blame them, really, and
Speaker 3: you can't be surprised that a political party might have
Speaker 3: a crack when their opponents are in such a mess.
Speaker 2: So, Karen, from everything you've said, it sounds like you
Speaker 2: think that the credibility of the Liberal and National parties
Speaker 2: has been shot. How do they go about rebuilding from here? Well,
Speaker 2: that's the big question.
Speaker 3: Can they really get along? When they said they couldn't,
Speaker 3: and they demonstrated that they couldn't, and all their interactions,
Speaker 3: you know, to blind Freddy suggested that they couldn't. Now
Speaker 3: apparently they can. Well, the problem proving that something's not happening,
Speaker 3: Ah is it is quite difficult to do. And we'll
Speaker 3: see if they can find a way to demonstrate that
Speaker 3: they unified that doesn't involve a leadership ballot in either
Speaker 3: of the Liberal or the National Party.
Speaker 2: Karen, thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 3: Thanks the goal.
Speaker 2: Also in the news, police will be given the powers
Speaker 2: to season destroy illegally modified e bikes after the new
Speaker 2: South Wales government announced a crackdown. Any bikes able to
Speaker 2: exceed the twenty five kilometer an hour speed limit will
Speaker 2: be crushed. It comes after a group of forty young
Speaker 2: riders swarmed the Sydney Harbor Bridge last week performing stunts
Speaker 2: and Queensland is set to outlaw the phrases from the
Speaker 2: River to the Sea and globalize the into Fada under
Speaker 2: new laws designed to tackle anti Semitism and hate speech.
Speaker 2: There will also be tougher penalties on the use of
Speaker 2: symbols such as swastikas, the hamas and Islamic state flags
Speaker 2: and the Hesbala emblem. The crackdown includes penalties of up
Speaker 2: to seven years jail for intimidation and wilful damage at
Speaker 2: places of worship. I'm Nicole Johnston. This is seven am.
Speaker 2: I'll be back tomorrow.