Nationals' Counter-Offer of Two Weeks Falls Short of Ley's Six-Month Suspension Demand

The National Party has made a last-ditch bid to salvage the federal Coalition, offering to remain sidelined from the opposition frontbench for a further two weeks as negotiations with the Liberals stall and a key deadline lapses.

The Coalition split more than a fortnight ago following a dispute over Labor's hate speech laws, after three Nationals MPs crossed the floor in defiance of shadow cabinet solidarity. The move triggered a chain reaction that ultimately fractured the long-standing political partnership.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is reported to have set a deadline of 9am on Friday for the Nationals to respond to her conditions for reunification, though she has not publicly confirmed the timing. Those conditions included a six-month suspension from the frontbench for the MPs who broke ranks and firm guarantees that cabinet solidarity would be upheld in future.

Instead, the Nationals have sent a counter-offer proposing that the entire party remain off the frontbench for another fortnight while talks continue - a move that stops short of accepting Ley's non-negotiable demands.

The rupture began last month when three Nationals MPs opposed Labor's hate speech legislation, breaching long-standing Coalition discipline. Ley accepted their resignations from the shadow ministry, prompting all remaining Nationals frontbenchers to step aside in solidarity and forcing the Liberals to temporarily fill portfolios with their own MPs.

Earlier this week, Ley restated her position, warning that without clear consequences for breaches of solidarity, the Coalition risked becoming unworkable. While some Nationals figures have signalled they could accept tighter rules around discipline - potentially with a joint Coalition party room having veto power - those proposals were largely absent from Friday's letter.

As the standoff continues, Liberal Senator Jane Hume said the Liberals remained capable of operating alone if necessary.

"Let's face it, we're better in Coalition with the National Party, but the Liberal Party can do this on its own - do not be under any illusions that we can't," she said.

Hume also downplayed suggestions that voters disillusioned by the split could drift towards One Nation, after its leader Pauline Hanson signalled openness to cooperation with the major parties.

"I want to make sure that it's the Liberal Party presenting credible and genuine alternatives at the next election," Hume said.

Opposition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh declined to intervene directly in the negotiations, describing them as a matter between Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud. However, she stressed that cabinet solidarity remained a "red line" for any future Coalition arrangement.

"If we don't have cabinet solidarity, it becomes a free-for-all," she said. "That commitment is fundamental to serving in the shadow cabinet and to the Coalition itself."

Ley has yet to respond publicly to the Nationals' counter-offer. With an all-Liberal shadow cabinet set to be finalised by Monday, she now faces a choice: extend negotiations once more, or formally bring the Coalition era to an end - at least for this parliamentary term.