Trade threatens to split Coalition
The issues of coal seam gas and free trade are combining to create a perfect storm for the National Party, and in turn, the Coalition government. Tony Abbott obviously saw the clouds on the horizon before the election and responded by declaring that a Liberal would hold the Trade portfolio for the first time since Menzies was prime minister.
But while keeping the Nationals at arm’s length from trade negotiations might have been easy, holding their votes in the Senate could be much harder.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
No signs of heat going out of Coalition’s summer of discontent
Sussan Ley started 2026 much like she ended 2025 – extending her tenuous hold on the Liberal Party leadership by politicising tragedy.
Coalition’s on-again, off-again ‘situationship’ has even those closest baffled
If anyone knows what is going on in the National party, could you please stand up? Interested parties in the Nationals would love to know.
Beware the new ‘normal’, it might be about to bite us
Anyone interested in politics would have heard the paraphrased Plato quote at some point – “one of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”.