Shownotes Transcript
The Coalition in New South Wales sure knows how to shoot themselves in the foot. When I wrapped up the program on Friday, civil war was just breaking out between the Libs and the Nationals. And the tensions over the weekend have only grown. This is over the whole drama of Leader Mark Speakman visiting Wagga Wagga, the Riverina, and thanking the local independent MP, Joe McGurr, for taking him on a tour of the local hospital.
The Nationals MP Wes Fang, he's in the upper house. He was angered by that. Now, he's not the local MP, but he lives in Wagga Wagga. So he's the closest thing you might say to a coalition representative. He took to social media, basically ripped into Mr. Speakman and questioned how long he could be leader.
And that's a pretty big deal in politics. They're on the same side. Well, I say they're shooting themselves in the foot because while it's probably unlikely, governments in New South Wales don't usually serve only one term. It is not impossible for the coalition to win the next election because Labor does not have a majority in Parliament. They rely on independents to pass legislation, to run the state.
So, the coalition does have a chance. It might only be a small chance, but they do have a chance based on the numbers. But in politics, disunity is death. Mark Speakman was on air on this program last week, on Thursday. It's actually the last time he's spoken publicly about this issue. And I asked him about his leadership.
And I asked him about Wes Fang. Well, his behaviour is unacceptable, and I've spoken to Dougal Saunders about that. But my focus is on the issues and on the people, and I don't think, frankly, the electorate is interested in tests between politicians. They want to know that we're listening to their concerns and we've got an action plan to deal with them. They might not be interested in the tests between politicians, but tomorrow at a quarter past nine, there'll be a meeting of Liberal Party MPs at Parliament House.
And they're telling me they're seriously thinking of splitting with the Nats. It's not some idle threat. Because Mark Speakman then went to sack Wes Fang as an assistant shadow minister. It's not a role that pays any extra money, but it's a title. He went to sack Wes Fang. He put a statement out late in the program on Friday. But then Dougal Saunders, the Nationals leader, he responded by saying Mark Speakman didn't have the right to sack Wes Fang.
So what's going to happen tomorrow? We'll obviously follow this tomorrow. There'll be a meeting of Liberal Party MPs that will call the Parliament House to sort this out. And I've been told they are very serious about splitting the coalition, at least for now, over a catfight. They both need each other. Neither can win an election without the other. They're not big enough. So what's the point of a split? I mean, what'll happen is they'll blow up with each other.
They'll play games for a month or two and then they'll get back to it with each other because there's no point of going to an election without the other side. They can't win government without each other. And it's three years away from an election. It does cause Mr. Speakman some issues with his leadership, probably. But when I was at Parliament earlier today and talking to Liberals, they are saying that this is about showing that Mark Speakman's actually a strong leader.
It's about showing that Mark Speakman has strength over the Nats because there are going to be issues down the track, for instance, on renewable energy. And some Liberals, for instance, are very much in favour of renewable energy projects in the bush that Nats aren't happy with because it's in their backyard. So there's going to be fights, internal fights over issues like that in the next 12 months. So this is about showing the National Party will know we're in charge.
and they're willing to fight on this particular issue. There's then the point about who is there to replace Mark Speakman if it came to that anyway. There's relatively few alternatives. Natalie Ward is in the Upper House. You can't be the leader of the Liberal Party in the opposition from the Upper House. There's been a suggestion that she would run for Matt Keane's seat of Hornsby because he's resigned. I've been told she won't contest pre-selection, but if she was parachuted in, perhaps she'd take it, but she won't contest a vote because...
Before the last election, she lost a pre-selection ballot. She doesn't want to be put in that position again. Kelly Sloan, a former TV host, she could be an option, but she's only been in government, in parliament for a year. Alistair Hempkins has ambition, but most people don't know who he is. He's tougher than Mark Speakman, but like Mark Speakman, he doesn't have a big profile. So there's going to be plenty to play out in the next 24 hours. The Libs aren't backing down.
And nationals I've spoken to this afternoon, they're saying bring it on. So there might be a hell of a Barney tomorrow. Bottom line is you've got both sides of conservative politics in New South Wales doing their best to shoot themselves in the foot.
