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News.com.au
35 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Ex-Nationals leaders Barnaby Joyce, Michael McCormack turn on leader David Littleproud
Nationals senator Ross Cadell says his party wasn't consulted before Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack publicly undermined party leader David Littleproud. Mr Littleproud has faced mounting leadership pressure from within his party since he briefly divorced the Nationals from their long-time Liberal partners back in May over four demands that newly elected Opposition Leader Sussan ley could not promise would be met. Mr Littleproud demanded the Libs maintain their support for nuclear energy and a $20bn regional future fund, force the divestiture of supermarkets, and ensure mobile phone coverage was reliable across regional Australia. The Nationals and Libs eventually made up just seven days later in a move that was internally described at the time by a party source as a 'train wreck'. Since then, the Nationals have been battling to maintain an image that resembles party solidarity – but comments by once-bitter rivals Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack in The Australian have reopened the party's barely healed wounds just in time for parliament's first sitting week. Mr McCormack and Mr Joyce directed most of their frustration towards Mr Littleproud over his choice to relegate them to the backbench – a move they feel gives them less sway in conversations around energy policy. The member for New England said it was not uncommon for him to 'lose his sh*t' over wind farm developments, and Mr McCormack believes renewables companies are 'dividing families' by trying to attract local support for large-scale wind and solar projects. Mr Joyce also drummed up support for Mr McCormack to replace Mr Littleproud as leader after the Coalition's election disaster. Mr McCormack has not ruled out running for the job in future. According to The Australian, Mr McCormack said Mr Littleproud was 'the leader, and I'm ambitious for him' – a line that was infamously deployed by Scott Morrison barely 24 hours before he usurped Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister in 2018 and one that Mr McCormack has directed towards his embattled party leader once before. Senator Ross Cadell was asked whether Mr McCormack and Mr Joyce were 'throwing a bucket' on Mr Littleproud's leadership while speaking from Canberra on Wednesday 'Ah, we're Nats, we're a bit fiery, it all happens. I'd prefer it didn't happen, but that's the way they want to do it,' he said. 'If they want to go out and (say) those things publicly, they can. Internally, we've had a party room, it didn't come up there. I think it was more a public facing thing than an internal problem.' Despite the apparent chaos, Senator Cadell was still enthusiastic about 'going through the process' of figuring out the best path forward for net zero – a commitment that Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack both wish to abandon. 'We're going to take a slower process, get through it … there's a lot of people out there who want to grab headlines (and) there's people out there who want to do the work; each to their own,' he told ABC News Breakfast. 'I want to go through the process, I am open to looking at the evidence.' Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack were 'good at speaking up for themselves,' and she would 'let them do that'. 'Nobody is getting under my skin … all my colleagues are valued. I have friendships across the aisle,' she said. 'We know that between the aisle we can form that strong opposition that holds the government to account, and that's the most important thing for all of us.'

Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
US Congress backs AUKUS ahead of hearing
A group of US congressmen have given their support to the AUKUS submarine agreement. Two congressmen from both the Republican and Democrat parties have signed a letter to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The letter claims Australia and the United States are 'stronger together under the AUKUS framework'. The support comes just a day ahead of a hearing in which former prime minister Scott Morrison will testify about concerns of China's rise.

ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Scott Morrison to argue case for AUKUS before US Congress committee on China threats
Former prime minister Scott Morrison is set to appear before a committee of the US Congress as its leaders lobby the White House to support the under-review AUKUS pact. The select committee, which is examining threats posed by China, has written to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to push him to back the trilateral pact as the Pentagon considers its future. The pact with the US and the UK, under which Australia would procure nuclear-powered submarines, is being reviewed to ensure it meets "common sense, America First criteria", according to the White House. The Pentagon official leading the review, Elbridge Colby, has in the past expressed scepticism about AUKUS amid concerns about America's consistent failures to meet its own shipbuilding targets. In their letter, the select committee's Republican chairman, John Moolenaar, and its most senior Democrat, Raja Krishnamoorthi, wrote that China's "rapid expansion of its nuclear, conventional, cyber, and space capabilities pose a grave concern for the United States and our like-minded allies and partners". "AUKUS has received strong bipartisan support from Congress for a reason," they wrote. "We are stronger together under the AUKUS framework." They pointed to the Chinese navy's deployment of aircraft carriers into the western Pacific in June, and its live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea in February as troubling examples of Beijing "project[ing] blue-water capabilities at increasing distances from its shores". "This attempt to project power as far south as New Zealand's front door highlights the importance of AUKUS in cementing ties to longstanding allies like Australia, as well as advancing vital undersea capabilities that will be central to deterrence," they wrote. Mr Morrison, who announced the AUKUS pact with then-leaders Joe Biden and Boris Johnson in 2021, has previously spoken directly to Donald Trump about AUKUS. In June, he told the ABC he had "never had concerns" about the US president's commitment to the pact. "I mean, there's a review underway, and I think he'll take notice of what Bridge Colby says, and I think we need to engage with that and make the case again," he told the ABC last month. The Australian government has also expressed confidence in the pact's future, framing the review as a standard process for an incoming government and rejecting suggestions a "plan B" is needed. But American concerns about Australia's defence budget remain a possible sticking point. Mr Hegseth has urged Australia to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, from its current level of about 2 per cent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pushed back, saying Australia will determine its own defence priorities. The opposition has been pressuring Mr Albanese to prioritise a meeting with Mr Trump to press the case for AUKUS. Plans for a meeting in May fell through. Multiple congressional committee chairs have also recently written to Mr Hegseth in support of AUKUS, pointing to its benefits for the US, including a $4.5 billion Australian investment in America's submarine-building capabilities. The Australian government made an initial payment of almost $800 million earlier this year. In total, the submarine deal is expected to cost Australia up to $368 billion over several decades. Mr Morrison is one of two witnesses set to appear at Wednesday's committee hearing, which is focused on strategies to counter China's "economic coercion against democracies". The other is former US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.