Have Your Say

TRANSCRIPT: SKY NEWS WITHH CALEB BOND 25 MAY 2025

26 May 2025

Subjects: Coalition Split 

E&OE 

STARTS: 8:15 PM 

 

CALEB BOND 

Now, let’s talk to someone who was apparently involved in the talks to get the Liberals and Nationals back together. I’m joined again by Nationals’ MP Michael McCormack. Michael, we spoke to each other on Tuesday. I don’t think we were expecting to speak to each other in these circumstances again on Thursday, but you must have been pleased with the news today.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Well, as that great political philosopher Mariah Carey said: We belong together”, and the Liberals and Nationals do belong together. And it seems as though there’s been, as one Liberal insider told me today, great momentum, good discussions, productive work done at the Liberal Party meeting tonight, this evening at 5pm, a lengthy meeting, I’m told, but a good meeting. And the Liberals know that they can’t govern without us. We know that we can’t govern without them. As John Howard has always said, we’re much better together. And hopefully that will happen and happen soon.  

 

CALEB BOND 

Well, thank you for the window into your musical taste, Michael. Now Sussan Ley reportedly reached out to several Nats that she heard were against the split. You were one of them, Barnaby Joyce, Darren Chester, can you tell us about the conversation you had with Sussan Ley? 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Look, it was an earnest discussion. It was an honest discussion. Sussan and I have been neighbours since 2010, when I took over from Kay Hull. We are both Coalitionists and we’re both regional MPs. We’ve got everything in common, and I can remember Malcolm Turnbull once saying, he was surprised at how close we were on policy and a lot of other things. Yes, we have our differences, we’re from different political parties, but we share a common interest and that is serving the needs of regional people. And look, we had a good discussion last night about where we could land this. I’ve talked to David Littleproud this morning, encouraged him to, obviously, continue the discussions in a practical and reasonable and fair-minded fashion. And he’s done that, and she’s come to it in good faith too. Look, there’s no sense having recriminations. I’m sorry that the fallout has been this way this week. We didn’t need to go down this path. I can’t say why there was such haste. And, look, hopefully we’ve resolved, those few differences that there are. I appreciate that we need to have a policy discussion. We do as Nats, the Liberals do. But when we do come together, both in the Shadow Cabinet, in the joint party room, we need to present a united front, because the next three years is going to be hard on Australians. I really worry about cost of living. I worry about the unrealised capital gains. I worry about the lack of regional infrastructure that, country areas are going to endure following the last Budget. And we need to be talking about Australians, not ourselves. And we don’t need to continue navel gazing. We need to be getting on the front foot and making sure that we hold this gGvernment accountable.  

 

CALEB BOND 

When you spoke to Mrs Ley, what impression did you get of why she seems to have changed her tune? Because, of course, we read yesterday that she was quite prepared to go the full three years into another election without being in Coalition with The Nats. 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Look, I think all along I think we would have resolved it before the next election. I think it was going to be important. You can’t go into a campaign with a 50-seat deficit and just hope that you’re going to form government and then maybe get some sort of, as they do in Western Australia alliance, after the election. You can’t do that, given the fact that we’ve been so successful for so long – 80 years, in fact. And I think it was always going to happen before the election, not after, this looks like it’s going to come to fruition. And hopefully, within days, not weeks. We resume Parliament on the 22nd of July. I’m hoping that we’re back united. Yes, we’ll still have to work through review processes in both parties. Yes, we’ll still have to work through, policies, etc. But we need to be back as one, fighting the real enemy and that is Labor, and the Greens, of course, all those, well there’s only one of them now in the Lower House, thank goodness that’s one too many. But that’s the challenge for Liberals and Nationals. And so, in good faith, it looks as though the talks are going to be fruitful. And I look very much forward over the coming, hopefully 24 or 48 hours. It all been resolved and we can get on back doing what we should be doing. And that’s listening to the needs and wants of Australians and acting on that. 

 

CALEB BOND 

We’ve only got a minute, Michael, but given that you’ve sort of come back together so soon, I mean, two days …  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

… Who would have thought? 

 

CALEB BOND 

… and negotiations are back on … I know! Do you think the decision that the National Party made and your leader, David Littleproud, made was the right one?  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Well, as has been reported, I voted against it. And so, I didn’t want to see a split in the first place. So, I suppose the answer to that question is I don’t think it was the right decision. But I always go with the party policy, given the fact that, you know, we are a democratic party. You go with the majority rules and, and the majority of the party felt, on Tuesday that, we would split from, from the Liberals. And so, I did my best to address that issue in, any number of press appearances, but, you know, it’s raining here in Wagga Wagga and across the Riverina, and that’s bringing more joy to me than anything I have to say, because we’ve had a prolonged drought. And when you’ve got farmers in desperate trouble, you’re thinking more about them than you’re thinking about yourself and power and positions. I’m just glad that it looks as though we’re going to get The Nationals and Liberals back together. And I’m very, very glad that it’s drizzling rain.  

 

CALEB BOND 

Good luck. Michael. Thank you so much. 

 

 MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Thanks Caleb, any time at all.  

 

ENDS: 8:21 PM 

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