The National Party’s Bold Gambit: Overreaching or Overdue?

By Jim McIntosh

Ever wonder why old men yell at clouds? Here’s a case study.

The National Party, riding a wave of self-proclaimed success in the recent federal election, is flexing its muscles within the Coalition. They’re pushing for a bigger role in the shadow government, even floating the idea of a National in the shadow Treasury – Barnaby Joyce, anyone?

Now, I’d never call the Nationals a crew of overconfident rural populists, clinging to a sense of entitlement while ignoring their relatively minor role in Australian politics. That would be unfair. After all, they prop up the Liberal Party, which would struggle to win elections without them.

They do, after all, ensure the diminishing relevance of the now-faltering Liberal Party, which would be highly unlikely to win any elections at all without the Nats as a coalition partner. So when I see an almost sneering Bridget McKenzie stand up and start blathering about the strong position of the National Party, or David Littleproud lamenting the tragic tale of how Labor was responsible for destroying the character of Peter Dutton, thus keeping them out of power, by proxy, for another term, or their former leader is caught slurring into his phone on a Canberra footpath, I would be one of the last to actually come out and say that these folk are in any way out of their league, or let alone say that they’re being rather naive or even pathetically idiotic. Perish the thought.

But picture this: the Coalition wins the next election, and a Treasurer from some remote, drought-stricken electorate takes the reins. How might that play out?

Let’s hope we never find out.

 

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