George Christensen will be free to cross the floor on sensitive issues, such as a looming non-government bill calling for a commission of inquiry into the banking industry, having departed from the position as chief National party whip.
The outspoken Liberal National party backbencher, who faces a substantial One Nation insurgency in his Queensland seat of Dawson, told his Nationals colleagues on Monday night he would stand down as whip.
The decision was by mutual agreement with his leader Barnaby Joyce, who believed it was untenable for Christensen to maintain his current posture of breaking ranks on a range of policy issues, and reserving his right to cross the floor, while at the same time holding the post responsible for enforcing parliamentary discipline.
In a statement, Christensen made it clear his ill discipline had rubbed his Nationals colleagues up the wrong way. He said: “I did feel some of my colleagues may have been aggrieved that the enforcer of discipline was being somewhat ill-disciplined himself.”
Christensen said he made the decision to resign because “my continued outspokenness on a variety of issues was obviously incompatible with the position of party whip in the long term”.
“It was my decision to resign; and my decision alone. I was not pushed by anyone.”
Some government MPs are concerned that Christensen’s departure from the whip’s role will remove an important structural check on the renegade backbencher’s behaviour, and could ultimately hasten his departure from the Coalition fold.
The government has already lost one of its number, the South Australian senator Cory Bernardi, who quit in the opening week of federal parliament to establish his new Australian Conservatives movement. Bernardi has made it clear he would welcome fellow travellers.
A ReachTEL poll reported by the ABC earlier this week had One Nation level pegging with the LNP on primary votes in Dawson. The ReachTEL poll gave the LNP 30.4% of the vote, compared with 30% for One Nation, in the Queensland seat.
Christensen has flirted publicly on a couple of occasions with leaving the Coalition, but has played down that prospect more recently.
Joyce – who made a name for himself early in his parliamentary career for being outspoken and crossing the floor – has also indicated he doesn’t think Christensen will leave.
Christensen’s decision compounds a challenging period for the government after the former prime minister, Tony Abbott, fired a carefully timed and highly damaging broadside last week – warning the government was drifting to defeat unless it wooed back disaffected conservative supporters.
Malcolm Turnbull took the opportunity of the regular Tuesday party room meeting in Canberra to warn his MPs that ill discipline damaged the government. “If we stick together we will win,” Turnbull told colleagues on Tuesday.
The Queensland MP will remain in the whip’s role until this Thursday, because National senators are currently occupied with estimates and other inquiries, and are unable to meet to replace him.
