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TRANSCRIPT: LIVE COALITION SPLIT WITH PAUL MURRAY, 25 MAY 2025

26 May 2025

Subjects: Coalition Split  

E&OE 

STARTS: 9:21pm 

 

PAUL MURRAY 

Skip to the National Party and its decision to step away from the Liberal Party, the Coalition is of course in tatters. A person who knows what it’s like to be in a leadership position of the Coalition is of course the former Deputy Prime minister, former Nationals leader, and a straight talker, Michael McCormack, who joins us 24hrs after that decision, but he was in the room as the decision was being made yesterday. Michael, nice to talk to you tonight. Where are you tonight, I like the background? 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

I’m in Bowning Community Hall and you’d love it, you need to come out to this community hall. We’ve had a protest meeting tonight, talking about the 90 wind towers, higher than the Trump Manhattan Tower, which are going to be placed, potentially, between Bowning and Binalong and two great little communities in the Yass Valley. This is the rush to renewables madness. This is what these communities are facing. And 140 people turned out tonight to hear just how their liveability, their wonderful little communities are going to be so badly affected. Now, Chris Bowen might have a mandate because they’ve just won the election, but he doesn’t have a mandate to ruin regional Australia, and we will stand up to him every day of the week in regard to this rush to renewables madness.  

 

PAUL MURRAY 

So given the inability of standing on your own two feet without being in a partnership, what is the more effective way of being able to resist this push that is coming from the Government and, frankly, endorsed because they won the election the way they did? 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Well, people power Paul, but in a partnership and, obviously, The Sydney Morning Herald, cottoned on to the fact that I didn’t support the divorce, call it what you like, and obviously, I’ve adhered to party protocol for solidarity. But I am concerned that the breakup with the Liberal Party, will unnecessarily affect our prospects at the next election because we need to be a cohesive force. And I hope that the breakup is only temporary. I hope that we can get back with the Liberal Party and, yes, sure, we’ll advocate for all those important things that David Littleproud took in good faith to Sussan Ley. But I just I do question the haste in which the decision has been made. But look, it’s been made. We’ve got to get on with it now and we’ll see what happens from here.  

 

PAUL MURRAY 

Now, again, as a person who has been in these relationships where you know how the decisions of the Liberal Party sometimes can be resistant or disliked by some people in and around the regional areas where the National Party represents. To those that are pro the breakup, they say great, no longer do we have to be the tail of the dog … and all if that business right … instead we don’t have to compromise, we are who we are. What’s your response to those people who say that the best thing about the divorce is that you don’t have to, for want of a better term, compromise.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Well, I get that people would like to see more National Party members free range and to be able to speak freely about the issues that are important to them. And obviously, that’s net zero, nuclear power, coal, mining, all those all those issues. And I get that sometimes those sorts of issues, even the live sheep trade, don’t resonate with people in the cities, people who are turning to the teals. What for what reason? I don’t know. But seriously, we can do a lot more together. As John Howard says, this country is governed best when it’s governed by Liberals and Nationals, cohesive government. And I hope that we can get back to that Coalition, in double quick time, because I think it’s too important not to.   

 

PAUL MURRAY 

Something that I find frustrating is, as someone who loves the regions, and lives in those regions, is exactly the reason why you’re standing in the community hall where you are right now, is that the Labor Party assumed that, look, they could just dump, from my end, all of the consequences of their decisions, to make the people in the inner city happy, and they’ll just keep throwing it on, throwing it on and throwing it on regional areas. That is the consequence of the next three years, and I said that last night, one of the things that I don’t like about the partnership it means that the Leader of the party is the Deputy Prime Minister. The backbench Nationals can take a walk up to, the Minister of Government, regardless of what party, to take the concerns of that room with you and take it to the heart of Canberra. But even in that side of the relationship of what the Coalition is or isn’t for the next three years, do you have a feeling that Labor is going to freely punish the regions because they see no political downside in it whatsoever? 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Well, they already have. I mean, the last Budget Dr Jim Chalmers was brought down, there was no regional infrastructure funding. He took away the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Fund, which I put in place as Deputy Prime Minister, and that gave councils the autonomy to fix their roads, to make decisions based on local people’s needs and wants and expectations and demands. All that money went. And, you know, I didn’t hear, I didn’t hear one commentator say, this is a dreadful thing for regional Australia. Thankfully, David Littleproud got up the Regional Australia Future Fund, which would have built up to $20 billion and that was one of the asks that we did have of the Liberal Party. I’m sure that they probably would have gone along with it. But we will always proudly represent the regions, National Party will always. That’s our sole focus, obviously, in the national interest. But this is where the food and fibre is grown. This is where the resources are dug up, which helps to keep the lights on, which helps to keep the balance of payments. And it’s been neglected by Labor. And if what we saw in the first three years was bad enough, it’s going to be far worse in the next three years, and it’s going to be far worse if the Liberals and Nationals don’t get back together and get back together soon.  

 

PAUL MURRAY 

Good stuff. Thank you. Michael, appreciate the call. 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Thanks Paul. Good man. Talk soon. 

 

PAUL MURRAY 

Say goodbye to everyone, thanks mate. Michael McCormack there. 

 

ENDS: 9:28pm 

 

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