Australia's century-old conservative political partnership has shattered just weeks before a federal election, with the Nationals walking out after a bitter dispute over gun control and party leadership.
The Liberal-National Coalition, which has governed Australia for most of the past eight decades, dissolved on January 21 following a mass resignation of Nationals frontbenchers and a vote by the party room to end the alliance.
The split came on what was supposed to be a day of mourning for victims of recent violence. Instead, chaos erupted as the Nationals voted against gun control policies supported by the Liberals, then announced they could no longer work under Liberal leader Sussan Ley's leadership.
Mate, this is a political earthquake. The Coalition has been the bedrock of conservative politics in Australia since the 1920s. And it's fallen apart three weeks before voters head to the polls.
The Breaking Point
The immediate trigger was gun policy reform introduced after recent shootings. The legislation passed Parliament anyway, but not before the Nationals made their opposition clear by voting against their own coalition partners.
Then came the frontbench resignations. One after another, senior Nationals MPs quit their shadow portfolios, making it impossible for the Coalition to function as a unified opposition.
Finally, Nationals leader David Littleproud declared the partnership "untenable" and withdrew from the Coalition arrangement entirely.
But the chaos didn't stop there. The Nationals reportedly won't just leave the Coalition—they're trying to dictate who the Liberals can have as leader, refusing to work with Ley in any future arrangement.
A Century of Partnership, Gone
The Liberal-National Coalition has been the default conservative government model since 1923. The Liberals dominated urban and suburban seats, while the Nationals held rural and regional electorates.
