By Dominic Giannini, Tess Ikonomou and Zac de Silva in Canberra
The Liberals want to keep renegade Nationals senators benched for six months as part of a proposal to restore the estranged coalition.
But the regional party is holding out for the former frontbenchers to be reinstated after a spectacular split triggered by division over Labor’s hate speech laws.
Liberal leader Sussan Ley told her party room on Tuesday she offered Nationals leader David Littleproud a deal to restore the coalition if three former shadow cabinet members remained benched for six months after crossing the floor.
The opposition leader gave the Nationals an ultimatum to rejoin the coalition before Monday, the start of the second sitting week of the fortnight, before Liberals acting in shadow cabinet portfolios would be given permanent posts to replace their former colleagues.
The sticking point remains the reinstatement of Nationals senators Ross Cadell, Bridget McKenzie and Susan McDonald after they crossed the floor to vote against the laws in breach of shadow cabinet solidarity.
Mr Littleproud has drawn a red line on the issue.
The regional party also wants to relax shadow cabinet rules so its frontbench MPs can vote separately from the Liberals in the future.
But the Liberals are reluctant to water down solidarity restrictions, with Ms Ley telling her party room the principle would be reaffirmed as part of any reunion deal.
Mr Littleproud has blamed Ms Ley for the break-up because she accepted the trio’s resignations from the front bench.
He preached exceptional circumstances due to the rushed nature of the hate speech laws and the legislation being amended from what was agreed to in the shadow cabinet meeting.
The two party leaders met on Monday evening as pressure mounted within the Nationals to end the messy coalition split.
But he would not buy into the proposed deadline.
Pressed on the issue on Tuesday morning ahead of the Nationals’ meeting, Mr Littleproud said work was under way to bring the coalition back together but he would not give a timeline.
“My room will make a determination, as we did a couple of weeks ago,” he told reporters outside a church service to mark the official start of the parliamentary year.
“There’s no unilateral decisions.”
Ms Ley said the discussions were constructive.
“At this point, the door is open; I have maintained that the door stays open,” she said.
Scott Buchholz, a Liberal National Party MP from Queensland, appeared less optimistic about the chances of unity between the former political allies.
He joked it would take an act of providence for the estranged political parties to reunite as allied and rival MPs met for the religious service.
“That’s where we need divine intervention,” he said.
Multiple members of the regional party have been publicly and privately calling for the coalition to get back together to make it a more effective political force.
The Liberals and Nationals will sit separately in the first question time since the political divorce.
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