WA Nationals leader Shane Love has denied the alliance with the Liberal Party is at risk of collapsing after an MP clashed with WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam and refused to sit in joint partyroom meetings.
During an email exchange, Nationals MP Martin Aldridge suggested the alliance was “untenable”, after Ms Mettam held a media conference with former Nationals MP Merome Beard on February 22.
The issue was the patient assisted travel scheme, which provides funds for regional residents who need to travel for medical procedures.
Mr Aldridge, who had been focusing on the issue as shadow minister for regional health, referred to it as a “media stunt” in an email.
The legislative council member did not want to be interviewed and referred inquiries to opposition leader and WA Nationals leader Mr Love, who has played down the spat.
Tensions come to the fore
“The alliance is working well and has worked well over the last three years to keep the Labor government to account,” Mr Love said.
“What we have now is a situation where we’re heading towards an election, about a year away, and the competitive tensions between the two groups begin to come to the fore.
“Which is why there does need to be an agreement around the conduct of the next election, something that was anticipated when the alliance was first signed.”
Mr Love said campaigning styles, policy priorities and where the parties ran candidates needed to be decided on.
He would not be drawn on whether Mr Aldridge was particularly concerned about Ms Beard’s attendance at the media conference, given that she had only recently left the Nationals to become a Liberal MP.
“I don’t want to go into the minutiae of that particular exchange too much,” Mr Love said.
“We’ll work those matters through between the two groups.
“It just points to the fact that there does need to be an agreement going forward between the two parties around 2025.”
Mettam says she makes ‘no apologies’
Mr Love said issues in the Liberal Party regarding contact with former premier Brian Burke created a “distraction” and this meant the matters regarding Mr Aldridge had not been fully discussed.
He asserted that Mr Aldridge had his full support.
“Martin is a very effective member of parliament, one of the strongest performers in the Legislative Council and I intend to ensure that he continues to be able to make a great contribution for the National Party, for the opposition and for the state of Western Australia going forward.”
Ms Mettam issued a statement, saying her “number one priority as leader of the WA Liberal Party is to hold the Cook Government to account for its failings”.
“As Shadow Health Minister my number one priority is to fight for the best possible health care for all Western Australians, including pregnant women in regional areas accessing adequate maternity services,” she said in the statement.
“I make no apologies for using the limited resources the WA Liberals have to be a strong voice.”
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