Tony Abbott’s dramatic dumping as prime minister on Monday night has plunged the future roles of member for Riverina Michael McCormack and the Nationals in the government into jeopardy.
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Speaking after Malcolm Turnbull seized the Liberals leadership by 54 votes to 44 late on Monday, Mr McCormack remained tight-lipped over whether the Liberal partyroom made the right decision and what it meant for himself and the junior Coalition partner. As a Nationals member, Mr McCormack did not get a vote in the leadership spill.
When asked if he could work with the new Prime Minister-elect, Mr McCormack simply said: “I’ll wait for (Nationals leader) Warren Truss to make an announcement”.
Mr McCormack also deferred to Mr Truss, who is expected to make a public statement on Tuesday morning, when asked if the Liberals had made the right decision in dumping Mr Abbott.
However, he confirmed the Nationals’ Coalition agreement would need to be renegotiated following the leadership switch.
“We do not have an agreement in place (with Mr Turnbull) and we need to decide as a party as to what course of action we may take in relation to that,” Mr McCormack said.
Mr McCormack was one of the first to commiserate with the ousted Liberals leader following the ballot and said the result was a “cruel blow” for Mr Abbott.
“He has lost a great deal tonight and I think people ought to remember he did have the national interest at heart,” he said.
Vivien Thomson, a Muttama farmer preselected by Labor for the Senate at the next election, said the bush would lose out with the switch.
Mrs Thomson slammed Mr Turnbull’s handling of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in regional Australia as Communications Minister – and said it was indicative of his approach to the bush’s issues.
“My (NBN) service has been downgraded, downgraded and downgraded to the point it's non-existent now … he’s lost a lot of goodwill as far as I’m concerned in terms of rural areas,” she said.
