Littleproud to meet Ley after leadership spill fails as Coalition talks resume

David Littleproud is set to remain leader of the Nationals after a leadership spill motion failed, clearing the way for fresh talks with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on reuniting the Coalition.

The Nationals party room rejected a motion to trigger a leadership vote on Monday afternoon, ending an internal challenge launched by Queensland backbencher Colin Boyce. The motion failed to attract sufficient support to proceed to a ballot.

Speaking briefly after the meeting, Nationals MP Michelle Landry declined to reveal voting numbers, while confirming discussions had not yet been held on a separate proposal by Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester to reunite with the Liberals.

The leadership challenge followed weeks of tension between the former Coalition partners, sparked by a split vote on Labor's controversial hate-speech legislation. The disagreement led the Nationals to formally split from the Liberals last month - the second such breakup since the May federal election.

Boyce acknowledged ahead of the meeting that the spill was unlikely to succeed, but said it was necessary to address what he described as "political suicide" for the Nationals if they attempted to operate independently from the Liberal Party.

With the spill motion defeated, Littleproud is now expected to meet Ley to negotiate a pathway back to a united Coalition. Ley had previously proposed talks ahead of parliament resuming, but Littleproud said discussions could not occur until the leadership question was resolved.

Both Littleproud and Deputy Nationals Leader Kevin Hogan have insisted that any Coalition reunion must include the reinstatement of three Nationals senators who crossed the floor on the hate-speech laws to the shadow cabinet - a condition strongly opposed by most Liberals.

Ley has already announced an interim Liberal-only shadow cabinet and given the Nationals a one-week deadline to decide whether the split becomes permanent. If an agreement is not reached by the second sitting week, the Liberals plan to promote six MPs to the shadow cabinet and two others to the outer shadow ministry.