Nationals Pay Hefty Price for Walking Away From Coalition

Nationals MPs in the shadow cabinet lose 25 percent pay loading, worth up to around $58,000, as the Coalition dissolves.

Nationals Deputy Leader Kevin Hogan (L) and Leader David Littleproud (R) at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on May 12, 2025. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Five Nationals, including party leader David Littleproud, will take a significant pay cut—up to $58,000 (US$37,400) each—after stepping away from leadership positions in the shadow cabinet following the party’s decision not to renew the formal Coalition agreement with the Liberals.

Shadow ministers receive a 25 percent loading on top of the base salary of $233,660, worth $58,415 annually.

With the dissolution of the Coalition, Nationals MPs will no longer hold these frontbench roles, and five members will now forfeit this additional pay. Another two will miss out on promotions that would have carried similar financial benefits.

Shadow portfolios that have been relinquished include agriculture, trade, infrastructure, veterans affairs, and Indigenous Australians.

Nationals frontbenchers will also lose the staffing and resource entitlements tied to shadow ministry roles.

Deputy Leader Kevin Hogan acknowledged the financial impact, saying, “A lot of our members … are going to lose position and titles out of this and money, and that wasn’t even a focus of the discussion.”

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan echoed this sentiment, saying he wasn’t focused on the loss of political roles.

“My focus is on putting Australia first, not my own political party’s convenience,” he told Nine’s Today Show.

Reduced Roles, Reduced Influence

The Nationals currently have 16 representatives—12 MPs in the lower house and four senators.

With no formal agreement with the Liberal Party post-election, the Nationals will now appoint their own spokespeople and operate independently in opposition.

As the Coalition split takes effect, new Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will form a 30-member frontbench made up solely of Liberals. This gives her nine additional spots to allocate to Liberal members.

Assistant shadow minister positions, often used as a stepping stone to senior roles, will also now be unavailable to the Nationals—though these posts do not receive the extra 25 percent pay anyway.

The Nationals had already faced resource losses in the Senate after being reduced to four senators—no longer enough to be recognised as a formal party group—further weakening their influence. They will now face even fewer staff resources and less visibility in Parliament.

Nationals Open to New Alliances

Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie has signalled the party may take a more pragmatic approach to policy by working with a broader range of parties—including the Greens—on issues affecting regional Australia.

“It’s no secret that rural and regional Australians vote conservatively and typically for the Liberal or the National Party,” she told the Australian Financial Review.

“I don’t see that changing, and so we tend to have a natural harmony with centre-right parties, but that won’t preclude us from taking a pragmatic and practical approach to policy solutions that benefit our people.”

Whether the Liberals and Nationals will reunite before the next election remains unclear.

Nationals leader Littleproud confirmed the split on May 20, following the parties’ devastating loss at the May 3 federal election.

Under long-standing tradition, the Coalition agreement is renewed after each election, making this only the third time in history that the Liberals and Nationals have gone their separate ways at the federal level. State-level arrangements, however, vary.