Barnaby Joyce has sought to downplay Senator Sam McMahon’s resignation from the Country Liberals, arguing she is still a member of the government and can sit in the Nationals party room as an independent.
McMahon confirmed her resignation in a statement on Monday, explaining she no longer has “the confidence of or in the CLP” – leaving the Northern Territory-based party without federal representation and at risk of losing party status.
McMahon fell out with the CLP over a tumultuous preselection battle she lost to the deputy mayor of Alice Springs, Jacinta Price, in mid-2021.
Since then, McMahon has been a thorn in the government’s side, threatening to vote against its legislation unless it granted consideration of her bill to restore territories’ rights to legislate on euthanasia and crossing the floor to vote in favour of a One Nation bill banning vaccine mandates.
McMahon said she had quit the CLP on Friday and informed the CLP president and the Nationals, but did not explain if she would continue to sit in the Nationals’ party room.
“This has not been an easy decision and I have wrestled with it in recent times,” she said in a statement. “It brings to an end a 30-year association.
“There are a number of unresolved issues beyond the preselection.
“These issues include formal complaints lodged with the management committee that have not garnered a response let alone an acknowledgment.”
Earlier in January, McMahon confirmed she has had numerous approaches from minor parties, including the Liberal Democrats, to defect from the government but remained vague about her plans.
On Monday, McMahon said her intentions for the next parliamentary sitting, from 2 February, and the 2022 election “will become clearer” but added “I currently don’t have any plans for my future, political or otherwise”.
“I intend to vigorously pursue my private senator’s bill, Ensuring Northern Territory Rights, when parliament returns and continue working hard for the Territory.”
Joyce played down the defection, telling Sky News that McMahon “remains part of the government and that’s very, very important”.
“My leadership team – myself, Kay Hull, president of the Nationals, Jamie [DeBrenni], president of the CLP in the Northern Territory, [are] also in conversations with Sam – we’ve discussed this issue.
“Sam will remain as a member of the government in the Nationals room and probably as an independent, I’d say.”
Joyce said the defection comes “very close to the end of parliament before we go to an election”.
“I don’t think this is a dramatic issue,” he said.
The Morrison government already faces strife in the Senate where One Nation and Liberal senators Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic are refusing to vote for government legislation over its handling of vaccine mandates, state border restrictions and the vaccine indemnity scheme.
If McMahon continues as a member of the government despite quitting the CLP, the biggest impact of her resignation will be a threat to the CLP maintaining its party registration.
In order to remain registered, parties must either have representation in the federal parliament or be able to prove they have 1,500 members.
CLP officials have suggested the party could reach the 1,500 threshold by counting interstate members, but it is unclear whether formal changes to branch affiliation can be effected in time for the Australian Electoral Commission to count these members in a potential audit.
Parties remain registered while the AEC conducts an audit, but loss of registration would mean the CLP party name and logo does not appear on the ballot paper.
Price and a running mate could run as a group with an above-the-line box for voters to tick, and could still receive public funding, but would have to do so without the party name on the ballot.
The Liberal Democrats have brought a high court challenge to invalidate a law allowing the Liberal Party of Australia to block use of the word “Liberal” in its party name.
Loss of party status for the CLP combined with a Liberal Democrat court win allowing use of its party name on the ballot could spell trouble for the Coalition in the NT, where McMahon secured 37% of the vote at the 2019 election.
