‘Disunity is death’: Coalition slumps amid Hanson surge
Liberals say their party is paying the price for weeks of infighting as one MP plots a leadership challenge and One Nation skyrockets in the polls.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has surged to new heights of popularity, snatching voters from the opposition after weeks of infighting and leadership speculation.
The poll is likely to intensify pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who is facing a possible challenge to her job as soon as next week.
The RedBridge survey shows the primary vote for the Liberals and Nationals, whose coalition blew up in mid-January, has plunged by seven points to 19 per cent.
One Nation, the anti-immigration party led by Senator Hanson, now sits on 26 per cent after a nine point increase in support.
Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan blamed divisions within the now-former coalition for the poor poll showing.
“Everyone knows in politics that disunity is death, and the Australian people will never, ever say that if you are divided, that they think that you’re ready to govern this nation,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
Liberal senator Jane Hume said Australians were turning to One Nation because they felt “aggrieved”.
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“When Australians are aggrieved they turn to a grievance party like One Nation, and that’s simply not good enough, and certainly not sustainable,” she told Sky News.
“Unless the coalition, and specifically the Liberal Party, can turn around its message and deliver what Australians are looking for, which is a genuine alternative, well then we deserve what we get,” Senator Hume said.
The former minister added that she backed Ms Ley to remain as leader, and urged colleagues to unite behind her so the party can deliver serious policies.
Speculation is running rife that Angus Taylor, a conservative frontbencher from NSW, could soon challenge Ms Ley for the leadership.
His rival, fellow right-wing MP Andrew Hastie, ruled himself out of the race for the top job on Friday after a meeting between the two men and senior powerbrokers the day before.
Mr Taylor is unlikely to challenge Ms Ley this week, but a leadership spill could be called in next week’s party room meeting.
One Nation is also tipped to add to its ranks as its support base grows.
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Sydney radio station 2GB reported Cory Bernardi, a former Liberal senator who established the short-lived “Australian Conservatives” party, could be One Nation’s next recruit.
Labor minister Tanya Plibersek said One Nation’s surge was “really disappointing”, and derided the Liberals and Nationals as a “bin fire”.
“They don’t know who their leader is going to be one week to the next,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program.
Meanwhile, 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, Littleproud said it was up to his party room to make the call.
Boyce previously said he would put himself forward for the leadership and urge the coalition to reunite, warning the party faced “going over the political cliff” otherwise.
The Nationals leader will meet with embattled Opposition Leader Sussan Ley after the spill motion to negotiate reforming the coalition after its second divorce in 12 months.
Ms Ley earlier announced an interim Liberal-only shadow cabinet, giving the Nationals a week-long deadline to decide whether the split would be made permanent.
If the parties aren’t reunited by the second sitting week, the Liberals plan to promote six of their MPs to the shadow cabinet and two to the outer shadow ministry.
-with AAP
