Liberal-National coalition reunite a week after split

Australia’s main opposition political party – a coalition of the Liberals and Nationals – has been revived after the two party leaders agreed to reunite.

The latest development comes a week after the break-up of the long-standing coalition of the two conservative parties.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley is expected to hold a press conference on Wednesday, according to local media, with a new shadow cabinet made up of members from both parties to be announced.

The Coalition split last Tuesday after Nationals leader David Littleproud said both parties were not able to agree on key policy matters.

In announcing the split last week, Littleproud had said the Coalition had broken up and reunited in the past, adding that he would work with Ley to “rebuild the relationship to the point we can re-enter a coalition before the next election”.

Ley replaced former Liberal leader Peter Dutton following the Coalition’s poor election results earlier this month, with Labor winning its second term in a landslide victory. She has vowed to bring the Liberals back to the centre-right.

The relationship between the Liberals and Nationals – which mainly represents regional communities and often leans more conservative than the Liberals – had become strained in recent times, with climate and energy as key issues.

According to local broadcaster ABC, the two parties have agreed to to ditch an earlier commitment to build seven nuclear power plants but will push to lift the national ban on nuclear power.

Other policy positions which have been negotiated as part of the Coalition reuniting cover regional infrastructure spending, internet speeds and mobile coverage in regional and rural areas, and policies to improve supermarket competition, the ABC reported.

The Liberal-National partnership, which in its current form dates back to the 1940s, has broken down and been re-established several times over the decades. The last time the Coalition split was almost four decades ago, in 1987.