NSW politics LIVE: Nationals to meet to determine future of coalition after Berejiklian gives ultimatum - The Sydney Morning Herald

Summary

The state Nationals will meet at 8am to determine if they will move to the crossbench following a dispute with the Liberals over a koala protection policy passed in December.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has given Nationals leader, Deputy Premier John Barilaro, until 9am to give his party's decision, saying Nationals could be ministers in cabinet or sit on the crossbench but "they cannot do both".
An attempt at crisis talks ended without resolution on Thursday night, with some Nationals MPs expressing concern about opposing the policy.

Latest updates

This 'isn't about koalas': Federal senator weighs in

By Tom Rabe

Federal Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has leapt to the defence of NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, and says the potential state coalition split “isn’t about koalas”.

Senator McKenzie said Mr Barilaro was doing exactly what he was sent to Macquarie Street to do, which was to stand up for his constituents against a "city-centric" Parliament.

"I don't think it's surprising that city-centric policy decisions being made in the main by the Liberal and the Labor party are being challenged by the Nationals," Senator McKenzie said.

"You can walk and chew gum at the same time, but not if you're going to have a city-centric operation towards policy development."

She said the current koala policy would severely restrict the rights of NSW farmers to develop their land and impact the value of their properties. Any attempt to address those concerns by state Nationals had been rebuffed, Senator McKenzie said.

"I see it as a level of frustration by the Deputy Premier and his parliamentary colleagues having tried to reach an appropriate outcome inside the tent. They obviously feel this is their only course of action," she said.

War of words: Barilaro v Stokes in the Herald's opinion pages

Yesterday, Deputy Premier John Barilaro wrote an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald outlining his party's motivations in potentially causing a coalition split.

In it, Mr Barilaro said the Nationals were not "opposing" the SEPP, but wanted practical changes to the SEPP, requesting the provision of clear safeguards for traditional farming practices, greater clarity on proposed core koala habitat and drastically reducing the number of relevant koala tree species protected by the policy.

John Barilaro and Rob Stokes.Credit:James Brickwood/Louise Kennerley

"When a farmer or landowner can’t put in a driveway or a feed shed, this SEPP is overreaching and wrong," he wrote. "Our role as parliamentarians is to make life easier for the people we represent, not harder, and mundane policy like this is the epitome of overbearing bureaucracy."

However, also yesterday, Planning Minister Rob Stokes – who is responsible for the SEPP – denied many of Mr Barilaro's claims in his own prose for this masthead.

"My colleague in the NSW government said farmers can’t build a feed shed or a driveway on their property without a koala study. This is not the case. You can erect farm sheds, pour driveways, clear fence lines and engage in any routine agricultural practice that has occurred for generations without the need for development consent or a koala study," he wrote.

"Barilaro also said noxious weeds are listed as core koala habitat. Again, this is incorrect. There are no noxious weeds on the tree species list. These are just two examples of some of the mistruths being pushed out there by opponents to koala protection."

Premier 'not bluffing' with cabinet ultimatum, says Stokes

By Lucy Cormack

Planning Minister Rob Stokes said Premier Gladys Berejiklian was "not bluffing" in the ultimatum she handed Deputy Premier last night over his threats to move his party to the crossbench.

Mr Stokes told radio host Ben Fordham he could not understand where Mr Barilaro was coming from, but that there was "always a way back from these things".

"Dividing us is not the way to go about it," he said.

"John said he is effectively on the crossbench but not on the crossbench. That is just not the clarity [Ms Berejiklian] needs in a pandemic."

Mr Stokes said the koala planning policy at the centre of the crisis was not "anti-farmer" and that there were a lot of mistruths about the policy, saying that there were no environmental zones imposed and no noxious weeds on the tree species list.

Asked if Mr Barilaro's position was untenable, Mr Stokes said it was "a matter for his colleagues," adding that the Premier "has made it pretty clear what her intentions are".

Barilaro denies MPs will sit on the crossbench

The Deputy Premier has entered something of a definitional argument in an appearance on 2GB this morning, denying Nationals MPs will be sitting on the crossbench if they decide to take a stand against the government's koala policy.

John Barilaro said he never stated Nationals would be on the crossbench, claiming media reports had misrepresented his views.

"Because we said we won't vote on government bills until this is resolved, we'll only vote on bills which have an impact on the region [it has been assumed] that effectively the whole party is sitting on the crossbench," he told host Ben Fordham.

"We're not sitting on the crossbench. They're not sitting on the crossbench."

Here is what Mr Barilaro said on the matter yesterday: "By not supporting government legislation effectively means all members [are] united in the National Party and will sit on crossbench."

'An hour is a long time in politics': Barilaro confirms last-ditch 8am meeting

Deputy Premier John Barilaro has told 2GB's Ben Fordham the final decision on whether the Nationals will remain in the coalition will be made "as a party" at an 8am meeting today, after they failed to reach a resolution at a crisis meeting last night.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has set a 9am deadline for the Nationals to determine if they will remain with the government or give up their ministries and sit on the crossbench.

John Barilaro has said the Nationals will meet at 8am to determine the government's fate.Credit:James Brickwood.

Sounding exhausted, the member for Monaro said he regularly did not sleep well due to "too many worries about what's happening around the state with border issues and regional issues" as he denied he was the one driving the government's crisis.

"[It was] driven by my members ... who felt that, on this issue, we are not being heard," he said.

He confirmed the Nationals would make a "final decision" at the meeting, held just an hour before the Premier's deadline.

"An hour is a long time in politics and I will trust my party room to come to a decision that I, the leader, will then take back to the Premier. And what that looks like at this stage? I don't know what it looks like."

Government sources told the Herald several Nationals MPs, including a senior minister, voiced concerns about Mr Barilaro's plan during last night's party room meeting.

"What we're fighting for is the protection of farmers," Mr Barilaro told 2GB, saying he wanted to show his party had learnt from concessions on greyhound racing and local government mergers.

"I'm not here to bring down the government, I'm not here to destroy the politicians – and I don't think it's the Liberals that have been a good government, we've been a good government."

Today's front page

Here's the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald today, as the Coalition stares down a potential end to its nine-year government partnership.

What is the koala SEPP?

Despite Premier John Barilaro and Premier Gladys Berejiklian having increasingly divergent views on issues such as state borders and coronavirus restrictions in regional communities, this potential fracturing of the state's governing coalition is all down to a disagreement on koala policy. So, what exactly is this policy?

As Mike Foley, climate and energy correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, explains, the legislation in question in the koala "SEPP": the Koala State Environmental Planning Policy.

Nationals leader John Barilaro has threatened to leave the Coalition over koala protection laws. Credit:James Brickwood

The policy – which was passed in December while two Nationals representatives were present: Bronnie Taylor, representing Mr Barilaro who was in London at the time, and Kevin Anderson – only affects a small portion of farmers proposing significant developments, really only impacting development applications made to local councils.

Land clearing for agricultural activities is still permitted by the Native Vegetation Code, and routine agricultural management activities such as felling isolated paddock trees, clearing vegetation from dwellings or building fences are not impacted by the new SEPP.

Former NSW Agriculture Minister Niall Blair, who led the state's controversial land-clearing reforms in 2018 before leaving Parliament last year and is now a Professor of Food Sustainability at Charles Sturt University, said this policy didn't "have farmers marching in the street", noting he would be "more concerned about this koala SEPP if I was a developer rather than a farmer".

The koala ultimatum: welcome to a special NSW politics live blog

Good morning and welcome to a special NSW politics blog this morning, as the state's Nationals determine whether they will remain in coalition with the Liberals following a dispute over a policy designed to protect koala habitat, which the Nationals say would severely limit the way property owners could manage their land.

The Nationals will meet 8am today to discuss whether they will remain in coalition or sit on the crossbench after failing to reach a resolution at a crisis meeting last night. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has set the party a 9am deadline to let her know their decision.

Here's some recommended reading to bring you up to speed on the issues at play this morning, from state political editor Alexandra Smith.

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2020-09-10 21:20:00Z
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