February 9, 2026
The second trial separation between The Nationals and the Liberal Party ended on Sunday with the leaders of the two parties holding a joint media conference in Canberra.
“The Coalition is the most enduring and successful partnership in Australia’s political history, and we have a record of delivering strong and stable government,” Liberal leader Sussan Ley told the media.
Ms Ley said the Coalition was back together “and looking to the future, not the past”.
She said all Shadow Ministers would sign on to Shadow Cabinet solidarity with neither party room able to overturn the decisions of the Shadow Cabinet.
The Nationals split from Coalition with the Liberals last month after Ms Ley accepted the resignation of three frontbench Nationals’ Senators – Susan McDonald, Bridget McKenzie and Ross Cadell – whom the Liberals asserted defied Shadow Cabinet solidarity by voting against a Labor Bill which aimed to strengthen hate speech laws.
The Nationals claimed the Shadow Cabinet process had been flawed.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said it was “disappointing” the Coalition split had taken place but, blaming the Labor Government, he said the Nationals had not been afforded enough time to explore “in a proper way” the issues at stake in the Labor hate speech Bill.
“This isn’t about personalities. This was about principles that we tried to get to a position on, in a short period of time,” he said.
“And I think that says to the Australian people, you’ve got a Coalition that cares.”
Ms Ley said the Coalition had now “strengthened” its processes.
“We’ve put in processes now to ensure that both parties know exactly that one can’t override the other,” Mr Littleproud said.
The two parties plan to hold their first joint party room meeting on Tuesday.
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