Statement: The Hon David Littleproud Mp Leader Of The Nationals

This afternoon [Tuesday 10 March] I notified The Nationals Chief Whip of my intention to resign as Leader of The Nationals and requested a party room meeting later this week to choose a new Leader.

Leading this great party has been an enormous honour and privilege, but I have concluded that I am no longer the best per­son to lead The Nationals. The Leader must be able to give everything they have, but after the last few months, I have come to realise that I no longer have the energy re­quired to do this job to the best of my ability.

I love The Nationals and regional Australia too much not to give it everything.

My colleagues trusted me with their sup­port three times when choosing who should lead The Nationals, and I will be forever grateful. My concern is for the ongoing suc­cess and strength of The Nationals. With two years until the next election, and the Coali­tion relationship now restored and strong, it is the right time to refresh the leadership of The Nationals.

Equal to my love of the party, is my love for the people of Maranoa and I am dedi­cated to continuing to keep fighting for them every day. I look forward to spending more time back in Queensland, helping locals deal with the challenges they face.

Leading a political party takes a toll and there is a price paid by those closest to you.

I could not have been Leader of The Nation­als without the love and support of my fam­ily, close friends and staff.

Our new Leader will have my support, and I am passionate about working with that per­son to see The Nationals succeed.

During my leadership over the past four years, our party has faced some of the most difficult challenges since John ‘Blackjack’ McEwen was Leader. We have fought some tough battles and achieved great outcomes for regional Australia.

We led the fight against the Voice to Par­liament, led the scrapping of the Coalition’s commitment to Net Zero by developing our Cheaper Better Fairer Energy and Climate Plan, we have secured a commitment for the Regional Australia Future Fund which will deliver up to $1 billion a year in addition­al funding for regional communities under a Coalition government and secured big stick divestiture powers to crack down on big su­permarkets as Coalition policy.

I have great faith in Angus Taylor’s abil­ity to lead the Coalition and believe that he is the right person to reconnect the Coali­tion with the Australian people, with the right plan to restore our standard of living and protect our way of life.

I look forward to continuing to work along­side my National Party colleagues with An­gus Taylor’s Liberal Party in a strong Coali­tion opposition.