Australian news and politics live: Barnaby Joyce floats another One Nation defection, Coalition drop in polls

The fallout from the Coalition’s latest spectacular split will come to a head with a Nationals backbencher moving to skewer David Littleproud’s leadership.

Queensland MP Colin Boyce will attempt to trigger a spill motion against the Nationals leader on Monday as politicians descend on Canberra for the return of Federal Parliament.

Several Nationals members expect the motion will fail to trigger a vote on Mr Littleproud’s leadership as it will need the backing of a colleague in the party room.

“David’s a leader of that team and I’m pretty sure he’ll have the confidence of the room,” Senator Matt Canavan said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at Canberra Airport later in the day, Mr Littleproud said it was up to his party room to make the call.

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The catastrophic spat between the former Coalition partners is proving to be increasingly destructive, as a new poll finds conservative voters abandoning the Liberals and Nationals, while the popularity of One Nation surges.

A recent Redbridge Group poll has found fewer than one in five people support the Liberal Party and Nationals, while Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s personal ratings have hit record lows.

At the same time, support for One Nation has surged to 26 per cent, consolidating Pauline Hanson’s party as the clear second choice of voters behind Labor, which has emerged from its own messy summer largely unscathed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, has taken a sharp hit in his personal ratings, while Hanson is now the most popular political leader in Australia.

In findings likely to embolden those conservatives seeking to force a Liberal leadership spill, the polling shows combined support for the Liberals and Nationals fell from 26 per cent in December to 19 per cent now.

That is 13 points lower than the primary vote the then-Coalition received at the federal election in May last year.

Conversely, One Nation’s primary vote rose from 17 per cent just before Christmas to 26 per cent now, more than four times the 6 per cent it received at the election.

Labor remained statistically even at 34 per cent while the Greens fell 2 percentage points to 11 per cent.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has suggested Pauline Hanson’s Party will grow in size within 24 hours.

Asked about swirling rumours, Mr Joyce, formerly of the Nationals Party, was tight-lipped on who could jump.

“It wouldn’t be a big announcement if I made an announcement today, would it? It would be certainly a scoop. That’s what the word is, a scoop. But I’m not going to make the announcement,” he said.

“I’ll give you a scoop. It’s not Bridget McKenzie.”

“I’m just going to leave it to 24 hours. I think we can get there,” he said.

“Obviously, people are saying that if you want unity, clarity, strength, that One Nation’s the place to be. And polling says that, and the people are saying that. So it’s not unusual.”

One Nation has seen an enormous surge in the polls, with Redbridge data finding that it was the second most preferred party at 26 per cent, behind Labor at 34 per cent.

The Coalition and the Nationals were at 19 per cent in the poll.