For the second time in three years, David Littleproud’s Nationals have ratted on the Liberal Party and staked out a policy position that has potentially dramatic consequences for the senior Coalition party.

On November 27, 2022, Littleproud, then Nationals MP Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and the rest of the party room, announced the Nationals would formally oppose the Voice to parliament.

It would be almost six months before Peter Dutton announced the Liberals would take the same position but the result was all but inevitable. It’s now all but inevitable now that the Liberals will dump support for Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Nationals leader David Littleproud during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Sunday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The only surprising thing about the Nationals’ decision is that it took them this long.

What is notable is that Littleproud has again taken a maximalist position on a crucial policy issue that leaves the official opposition leader – then Dutton, now Sussan Ley – facing two choices: fall into line behind the Nats and look weak, or stake out a different position and potentially split the Coalition.

Littleproud was elected to lead the Nationals and he........

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