Barton Deakin Brief - Opposition Arrangements post 2025 Federal Election
The Liberal and National parties contested the 3 May 2025 federal election in coalition.
Following the reelection of the Albanese Labor Government, the Liberal Party elected Sussan Ley as their new leader, and David Littleproud was reelected The Nationals leader.
On 20 May, Littleproud announced that the Federal Nationals party room had determined not to form a federal Coalition Agreement with the Liberal Party for the first time since 1987.
The Nationals cited reasons including policies prosecuted together as the Coalition at the 2025 election would not be adopted as policy in a future Coalition agreement.
Specifically they cited divestiture competition laws, universal service obligations for regional communications, support for nuclear energy, and the proposed Regional Australia Future Fund as commitments they could not “in good conscience walk away from”.
What does this mean for the Opposition?
As the largest non-government party in the House of Representatives, the Liberal Party will form the official Opposition. Ley has stated that she will form a shadow cabinet, consisting solely of Liberal Party members, in the coming days.
The National Party will sit separate from the Liberals and will allocate portfolio responsibilities across their team in due course.
The Opposition Shadow Ministry and the Nationals portfolio responsibilities will be updated on here when they are announced.
What next?
Both party leaders have indicated that they are open to ongoing discussions about reforming the Coalition at some point in the future, with the likelihood that an agreement will be reached prior to the next federal election (due to be held by 2028 at the latest).
In the meantime, the government will be required to deal with both the Liberal and Nationals separately to get legislation through the Senate if they wish to avoid dealing with the Greens.
What about the Coalition in the states?
The Liberal Party operates as a federation of state parties and the Federal National Party consists of separate independent parties. State coalition agreements are determined locally at a state level. The parties are effectively merged in Queensland (as the Liberal National Party) and in the Northern Territory (as the Country Liberal Party).
The Liberal and National Parties are in formal coalitions, in opposition, in New South Wales and Victoria. The Coalition leadership teams in both states have restated their commitment to their state coalition agreements.
The Queensland LNP have confirmed that the decision by the federal National Party Room has no impact on the organisation of party or the current Queensland Government.
Further Information
For more information, please contact Matthew Harris on 0410 839 586.
To stay up to date with the affairs of Coalition Governments and Oppositions around Australia, you can follow Barton Deakin on Twitter and LinkedIn.