Member for Mallee - Transcript - Sky News 'Credlin' with Peta Credlin - Thursday 29 January 2026

‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS: Coalition party processes, Joint Party Room, Nationals' leadership spill attempt, Victorian energy policy, farmers as volunteer firefighters, taxes on farmers, November Victorian state election

CREDLIN

For now to the state of centre-right politics in this country and the once-mighty Coalition relationship that is in tatters tonight as the party is prepared to return to Canberra over the weekend, as announced yesterday, Nationals MP Colin Boyce says he'll move a leadership spill motion against David Littleproud but that threat doesn't appear to be going anywhere. I've not been able to find anyone today who is seconding the motion. Colleagues went out pretty hard in the media, adamant too, that the party is united.

VOICE:

The party room is very united, given our actions last week, and they were actions that our leader facilitated here.

CREDLIN

To discuss this and other issues too, Nationals, MP Anne Webster, who holds the Victorian seat of Mallee in the state's west, Anne, will David Littleproud still be leading the party Monday night?

WEBSTER

Peter, if I actually bet, I would bet with 100 per cent surety that David will be our leader Monday night. I don't know where Colin's thinking was. He wasn't actually in the party room for any of the discussions that led to us saying no to this legislation. He came to his own conclusions, of course, and voted no, but we are backing David Littleproud. I've got to say I am incredibly disappointed in those shadow - it would appear - ministers, if the quotes are true, who have anonymously slandered David's leadership. And I made a point the other day in media. My view is that if you are going to make a defamatory statement, put your name to it, and I would say to media as well, you should be asking for people's names or not printing what they're saying, because it is it just brings politics lower, and the bar at this moment is pretty low, and we've got to raise it.

CREDLIN

I don't know if you caught my show last week, but I back in your comments there that the National Party were actually inside the Coalition rules for all the process reasons. Last week, you had a view to oppose the bills. The Coalition originally had that view ... sorry, the Liberal party had that view. They changed their mind. It went to a shadow cabinet. It was incumbent on Sussan Ley to then take that position to a Joint Party [Room] and either get you to change your your mind or agree to stand aside as two separate parties. She did not do that. And I've seen countless messages and spoken to countless Libs who were told they were waiting around for many hours for a shadow caucus ... sorry, for a Joint Party Room meeting ... that never happened. So I want to speak up there in defence of the Nationals. So if Colin wasn't in any of these meetings, and if Colin voted for .. sorry, voted against the legislation alongside every other National MP, then what's his grounds to move against the leader, and if it doesn't look like he's got any support, and I can't find anyone who's willing to at least tell me that they will second his motion, what's the long game here? Is this an attempt to quit the party, perhaps, and move to the cross bench, as some are saying?

WEBSTER

No, look, Peta, I absolutely give you credit for your analysis last week, and it was spot on, and the Joint Party Room did not take place. In terms of Colin's perspective, Colin is going to have to answer that. I'm sure that I will hear what he's got to say on Monday, when we go back to Canberra, what we want to do in the National Party is move on and fight for our regional seats, because we are being hammered by bad policy, by bad legislation and standing against the hate speech laws, standing against the gun reform laws, was just one of the many things that The Nationals have banded together to do. We absolutely are appalled at what has gone through the House under this Labor Government.  

CREDLIN

All right, let's get to some of the issues that are actually impacting people in your area, particularly, I spoke to people in the Mallee, and of course, the temperatures up there were close to 50 degrees. They lost power for six, seven hours on Tuesday, when it was incredibly hot. The State Energy Minister, Lily D'Ambrosio, has come out and basically said it's nothing to do with the government or the government's policies, it's all an issue for the energy companies. What would you say to that?

WEBSTER

Look, when I read that report, I just immediately went back to my childhood, the Three Stooges and the Victorian Labor government, and the fact that they will take no responsibility, just like the federal Labor government, take no responsibility when things go wrong. She is the Minister. The awful legislation that she has put through, which railroads farming communities, is we are continually seeing the damage that is going on, and it's a damage of trust. That's the thing that really, really disappoints me, is that my farming communities are appalled at government, and it's very easy for people to just, you know, throw everybody in that bucket, and I understand the frustration, but the Labor government, in particular in Victoria, has just ridden roughshod over our farming community. They're doing consultations through the harvest period, through the bushfire period, when our farmers are actually the CFA volunteers. They want to tax our farmers and meanwhile, not supply the equipment that they need. I just think, honestly, the November election can't come on soon enough, and I just am really crossing my fingers that the government changes.

CREDLIN

Well, good luck in Canberra next week, hopefully you can get the opposition back on track. The National Party can be the stiffness in the spine. I think that theCcoalition needs the Liberal Party, certainly needs Anne Webster, thank you.

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