In line with their dysfunctional Coalition partner, The Nationals have just lurched even further to the right, elevating Queensland senator Matt Canavan to party leader following the sudden departure of David Littleproud.
This came just over a month after Littleproud saw off a leadership challenge from nonentity Colin Boyce, who was making noises about joining Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. At that time Mr Littleproud said, ‘I stand by my record as leader of the Nationals and what our partyroom has achieved.’
So what are these achievements? David Littleproud voted against same sex marriage, the Voice, split the Coalition (twice) and helped destroy the Liberals’ first female leader in favour of the clueless Angus Taylor.
He also frustrated Barnaby Joyce’s ambitions to return as Nationals’ leader, established the Regional Investment Corporation, supported giving the ACCC divestiture powers to stop supermarket price gouging, and worked with Labor to keep the Murray Darling Basin Plan alive, while surviving family links to alleged water fraud.
Littleproud has managed to hold his own party’s representation, mostly thanks to culture war shenanigans and tribal loyalty, but there has never been any apparent vision for regional Australia.
If he’s remembered for anything, it will probably be for his opposition to meaningful action of any kind on the climate crisis. He and his party have delayed and obfuscated action on this issue for many years now, despite the fact that their own constituents are on the front line.
‘I don’t really care’
David Littleproud is the bloke who said in 2018, ‘I believe the climate is changing. Whether it is man-made or not, I don’t really care.’ The problem is that it’s his job to care, or at least be across the scientific consensus and use the available levers of government to respond appropriately.
It makes more sense when you realise that Littleproud is from Chinchilla, once famous for its melons, now the centre of Queensland’s destructive unconventional gas industry, a journey with some remarkable similarities to that taken by the National Party itself over the last few decades, as it became the chief cheerleader for fossil fuel interests.
The son and grandson of rural politicians, Littleproud was an agribusiness banker before entering politics, but at least he knew something about how farms worked, and pulled some weeds on a cotton farm as a teenager.
His replacement, Matt Canavan, a communist in his youth, grew up in the city and holds arts and economics degrees. Coached by his mentor Barnaby Joyce in the dark arts of modern Nats politics, the only thing Canavan has ever shown any public enthusiasm for is coal.
Does he even own an Akubra? The public has a right to know
With the stakeholders of today’s National Party owning more private jets than tractors, the future of the organisation likely rests on having a competition with One Nation to see which can be the most racist, angry and disruptive, in the disastrous vein of modern American politics, while hoping their voters won’t notice that Australia’s actual environmental and social crises are getting more serious by the day.
No one in the Coalition appears to have read or absorbed the post-mortem of the last election put together by their own people, which makes it clear that they need policies which appeal to women, relate to multicultural Australia, and address actual problems affecting actual people if they ever want to return to government.
Speaking of problems, this country and the rest of the world continues to suffer the consequences of Donald Trump’s illegal war against Iran, which go beyond skyrocketing fuel prices.
In an echo of Vietnam, and without war being declared or the electorate being asked, 85 Australian Defense Force personnel have already been deployed in the Gulf, along with specialist flying hardware designed to plug holes left by Iran’s destruction of American radar systems in neighbouring countries.
Now One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals’ Matt Canavan have helpfully waded in, speaking as one to encourage Anthony Albanese to provide further military support to the United States and its proxies, up to and including the suicidally stupid idea of sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz.
Oh what a lovely war!
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
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