Australian news and politics live: Anthony Albanese on shock Coalition split and Tony Abbott’s stark warning

Liberal MP Tony Pasin, who holds the seat of Barker in South Australia, has slammed the Nationals for the “catastrophic decision” to leave the Coalition.

“This is a catastrophic decision,” Mr Pasin told ABC Radio Adelaide on Wednesday.

“I think it is probably the most significant act of political self-harm that I can think of over the course of the last half a century.

“Political parties exist to win elections, and the reality is the Liberal Party not in coalition with the National Party cannot win a federal election.

“Anyone seeking to talk down how significant this is, perhaps doesn’t understand the consequences of the decision that has been taken.”

When asked about the contents of the recommendation, Mr Watt remained tight-lipped, declining to reveal whether officials advised extending the project for another 50 years or rejecting it outright.

He said legal constraints prevented him from discussing the details publicly and noted he had not yet read the full report.

“I’m a bit limited in terms of what I can say about it, because I am in the middle of a decision-making process, and whatever I say on radio might be the basis of a legal appeal,” he said.

“I have not yet gone through any of the material for this decision, but that’s what I’m going to be doing a lot of in the next few days.

“I understand the significance of this decision for WA, I understand there are really strong views about it on both sides of the debate.

“One thing I can guarantee you is that whatever decision I make, there’ll be lots of people unhappy on either side of the debate. But that’s just the nature of the job.”

Mr Watt arrived in Perth late Monday, met with Premier Roger Cook on Tuesday, and is expected to speak with industry representatives on the sidelines of a WA mining summit today before heading back to Canberra.

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New Environment Minister Murray Watt says he has received the final departmental recommendation on whether to approve the expansion of the North West Shelf development.

Senator Watt, who took over the portfolio following predecessor Tanya Plibersek’s repeated decision delays, said he is confident he will make a decision by the May 31 deadline.

With just 10 days to go and a packed two-day visit to Perth underway, Mr Watt said he now has all the necessary documentation to make the call.

“My department has now finalised a brief to me with a recommendation that I’ll be going through in the next few days,” he told ABC Perth Radio.

“It’s obviously a really complex project and a really complex decision, and it’s not one I’m going to make in the space of 20 minutes. So, I will be giving that some thought in the coming days.”

Liberal Senator James Paterson has admitted he had been attempting to recruit Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to the Liberal Party for a decade.

“I have been trying to recruit Jacinda to the Liberal Party for 10 years,” Senator Paterson told Sky News in an interview on Wednesday.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud walked away from the agreement on Tuesday due to the Liberals’ refusal to guarantee four key policy commitments.

There was also speculation that the Nationals were upset that high-profile Senator Price had jumped ship to the Liberals. But Mr Littleproud previously said that it hadn’t played into their move to walk away from the Coalition.

Senator Paterson claimed joining the Liberal Party was always Senator Price’s preference, describing her as “an extraordinary political talent” that the party is proud to have welcomed.

“The truth is that Jacinda Price has always felt that she was a Liberal. She has always preferred to sit in the Liberal party room.

“Before the 2022 federal election, in the spirit of the Coalition and trying to keep things calm, she agreed to sit with the National Party. But that was not her preference.

“It was always the case that she would seek to join the Liberal party when she had the opportunity to do so. And we welcome her to the Liberal Party.”

Liberal Senator James Paterson has said the National Party’s reported demands to breach “shadow cabinet solidarity” were asking the party to compromise on “fundamentals of parliamentary democracy”.

“You cannot offer stable government to the people of Australia if you’re having a la carte shadow cabinet responsibility, where you get to pick and choose which decisions of the shadow cabinet you are bound by or not bound by,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

Senator Paterson argued that this proposed arrangement would challenge centuries-old Westminster political traditions.

He said that while policy differences between Liberals and Nationals are resolvable, the potential breakdown of cabinet solidarity represented a non-negotiable red line.

“It is reported that the National Party was seeking some kind of arrangement where they would not be bound by the conventions of shadow cabinet responsibility,” he said.

“That is one issue which is a seriously problematic issue to resolve, that is a centuries-old Westminster political tradition.

“It is a convention of parliamentary democracy, which is essential to delivering stable government.

“One issue which I’m very proudly, very conservative on, is on institutions and I thought that many of my National Party colleagues shared that.”

David Littleproud has revealed he and Sussan Ley shared a hug after their discussions over the now axed Coalition agreement.

Mr Littleproud on Tuesday formally announced the National Party would walk away from the Coalition, blaming it on a lack of guarantees on four key policies.

The Coalition have broken up and regathered several times since forming in the 1940s, and Mr Littleproud has framed this split as a chance to reflect before reuniting down the track.

“We had a great hug at the end of it, when I went around and told her the formal notification of our position,” Mr Littleproud said.

“I gotta say, Sussan went into these discussions in great faith, and she’s in an insidious situation, too. We’ve got to appreciate that she’s rebuilding a party that’s lost 30-plus seats over the last two elections. I understand the predicament she’s in.

Mr Littleproud previously said he had made the trip to Albury to meet with Ms Ley and continue discussions last week out of respect for her personal circumstances, knowing her mother was gravely ill and she shouldn’t have to make the journey to Canberra.

“I’m committed to making and helping Sussan get her party up and going, but I’m not going to do that at the expense of the people we represent,” he said.

David Littleproud has claimed that new Liberal leader Sussan Ley wanted to “cut all policies and start from scratch” despite several Liberal members saying they “weren’t rejected, just under review”.

Speaking on ABC breakfast radio on Wednesday after his historic decision to walk away from Coalition, Mr Littleproud was adamant that the Liberal plan was to axe the policies.

“Sussan made a decision that, and rightfully so and hers to make, that she wanted to actually cut all policies and start from scratch,” he claimed.

“That meant that there was no guarantee, and I couldn’t get… that guarantee to our party room that those policies would remain.”

The key policies that were a linchpin for Mr Littleproud included support for nuclear energy, supermarket divestiture laws, strengthening the Universal Service Obligation, and establishing a Regional Australia Future Fund.

“The normal, actual convention is that all policies remain.. in the Coalition, and then they’re cut out over the period of the next Parliament, if they’re not agreed to instead,” he said.

The view is at odds with Ms Ley’s comments at her Canberra press conference on Tuesday and remarks made by Senator Jane Hume and Deputy Leader Ted O’Brein in breakfast appearances on Wednesday.

Senator Hume said they had “not abandoned” any of its key policy positions, just saying they need to await review.

Deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien remains hopeful that the Liberal and National parties can eventually reunite, stressing their historical cooperation and personal relationships.

“I’m optimistic that the two parties can come together, because it is in the best interest of Australia that the Liberal Party and the National Party work as a united force,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday morning.

He added that none of the four policy positions that Nationals Leader David Littleproud has blamed for his decision to walk were rejected.

Mr O’Brien said new Liberal leader Sussan Ley just couldn’t make assurances to etch those policies in the Coalition agreement prior to a full review of their diabolical election loss.

One of the policies Mr Littleproud wanted the parties to stick to was their contentious nuclear plan, which has been raised as a factor in their election loss.

“It actually wasn’t on policy. It was on process to formulate policy, and it was on Shadow Cabinet solidarity. None of the policy positions that David Littleproud put to Sussan Ley were rejected,” Mr O’Brien said.

Mr O’Brien assures the public that the Liberal Party will continue to evaluate government policies on their merits, focusing on the interests of the Australian people.

Liberal Senator Jane Hume says despite the recent split with the National Party, the Liberal Party has not abandoned any of its key policy positions, just saying they need to await review.

Speaking to Sky News after the Coalition agreement breakdown on Tuesday, Senator Hume said while the party conducted a comprehensive policy review, policies around nuclear energy, supermarket divestiture, Universal Service Obligation, and the Regional Australia Future Fund remain on the table.

“But after such a devastating election loss, it’s perfectly sensible to say that we want to review our entire policy agenda,” she said.

“Unless we can listen to the electorate, heed their message, and work towards respecting and reflecting and representing their wishes. Well, we put ourselves out of the electoral wilderness in too many years.”

While the Nationals have walked away from the coalition agreement, Senator Hume maintained that the “door is open” for future collaboration.

New Liberal leader Sussan Ley has said the key to the review is ensuring the party can “respect and reflect” the wishes of modern Australia, and get back to the “sensible centre”.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has detailed the “guarantee” that Liberal Leader Sussan Ley couldn’t give, which led to the Coalition split.

“I respect the fact that Susan wanted to, and in her right to, go back to her party room on all policies, but those that we took (to the election), we weren’t asking for new policies.

“We’re asking for those to be protected.

“When I could not get a guarantee, a guarantee that I asked her to be able to articulate and I put to her party room, to my party room, to be able to make sure I didn’t misrepresent anything in terms of what she could or could not guarantee, we got to the decision that there was no guarantee that we could secure those (policies) so what are we to do?

“What are we to do?

“I respect that the Liberal Party wanted to go through a process of their own, but the National Party should not have to walk away from what would change the lives of the people we represent.

“Why would I walk away? Why would a political party walk away from saving people’s lives and making people’s lives in the places that we represent better?”