SYDNEY, May 21 – Australia’s conservative opposition coalition fractured on Tuesday after more than six decades, as the National Party announced it would no longer partner with the Liberal Party following a crushing election defeat and widening policy rifts over climate and energy.
National Party leader David Littleproud said the split came after growing tensions over the Liberal Party’s stance on renewable energy, nuclear power, and rural infrastructure. “It’s time to have a break,” Littleproud told reporters. “We will not be re-entering a coalition agreement with the Liberal Party after this election.”
The break-up marks a major shift in Australian politics after the centre-left Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, won a landslide re-election on May 3, expanding its parliamentary majority to a record 94 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The Liberal Party was reduced to 28 seats, its worst-ever performance, while the Nationals held 15.
New Liberal leader Sussan Ley, who succeeded former leader Peter Dutton after he lost his seat, said she was disappointed with the Nationals’ decision but insisted the party would “form the official opposition” and rebuild. Ley, a former outback pilot and the first woman to lead the Liberals, had pledged a full policy review after the loss.
Littleproud said the Nationals would remain open to renewed talks before the next federal election, but the party would prioritize rural concerns. The Nationals had pushed for continued support of nuclear energy, greater controls on supermarket market power, and improved outback telecommunications—all demands they say the Liberals failed to meet.
“Australia’s move away from coal to ‘renewables only’ is not reliable,” Littleproud said, warning that wind farms were damaging rural landscapes and undermining food security.
Australia holds the world’s largest uranium reserves but bans nuclear energy. The Liberal Party lost key urban seats to centrist independents campaigning on gender equality and climate change. Ley now faces the task of rebuilding the party amid a growing urban-rural divide, political analysts said.
“Perhaps we’re seeing that in the political forum,” said Michael Guerin, CEO of AgForce, a Queensland-based farming advocacy group. “Each party needs to rebuild.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers of the Labor government described the opposition split as a “nuclear meltdown,” saying the Liberals would now have a parliamentary presence “barely bigger” than the crossbench of independents and minor parties.
The Nationals said they would continue to uphold the interests of rural Australians and maintain pressure on the government over energy reliability and regional development.
