Australia’s Liberal and National parties have restored their federal coalition partnership after acrimony over Labor’s hate speech laws brought in in the wake of the Bondi attack.
The rift came in January when the coalition’s junior partner, the Nationals, broke away from the joint arrangement after three of its senators opposed the legislation while the Liberals supported it through parliament.
The standoff escalated when Nationals frontbenchers quit their shadow ministry roles, arguing they could not serve in a united opposition team under the terms being imposed.
On Sunday, Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud appeared together in Canberra to confirm the deal and present a public reset of the relationship.
Ley told that “The coalition is together again and looking to the future, not to the past”.
Littleproud acknowledged that the dispute was damaging but framed it as a genuine policy divide rather than a personality clash, telling reporters that the division occurred over an important issue.
Under the agreement, the Nationals figures caught up in the rebellion will be sidelined from the frontbench for a short period before returning as the parties also tighten internal rules designed to prevent a repeat of the crisis.
Several outlets reported the arrangement includes a six week backbench period with a return to shadow roles from 1 March alongside stronger expectations of discipline and joint decision making in the combined party room.
The alliance, a long term partnership that links urban focused liberals with rural based citizens is working to rebuild after its last election defeat and stabilize internal tensions amid a volatile political environment.
