Australian news and politics live: Barnaby Joyce floats another One Nation defection, Coalition drop in polls

With One Nation foreshadowing a “significant announcement” on Tuesday morning, we revisited a rumour that was doing the rounds late last year that United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet was going to jump ship from Clive Palmer’s outfit to Pauline Hanson’s.

In late November, Senator Babet told this masthead he was friendly with One Nation and worked with them wherever possible.

This morning, he would neither confirm nor deny that he was the subject of the minor party’s big move.

But he did say he way happy to see One Nation climbing in the polls – the latest Redbridge numbers published in the AFR on Monday have the minor party on 26 per cent and the Liberals and Nationals on just 19 per cent primary votes.

“One Nation is on the rise and the Liberal Party have failed Australia and they deserve to be put in the dustbin of history,” Senator Babet told The Nightly.

“Whatever it takes to remove the Liberal Party, I’m on board with.”

A Liberal frontbencher has blamed divisions within the now-former Coalition for plunging support in the polls.

“Everyone knows in politics that disunity is death, and the Australian people will never, ever say that if you are divided, that they think you’re ready to govern this nation,” Dan Tehan told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Meanwhile, Liberal senator Jane Hume said Australians were turning to One Nation because they felt “aggrieved”.

“When Australians are aggrieved, they turn to a grievance party like One Nation, and that’s simply not good enough, and certainly not sustainable,” she told Sky News.

“Unless the Coalition, and specifically the Liberal Party, can turn around its message and deliver what Australians are looking for, which is a genuine alternative, well then we deserve what we get,” Senator Hume said.

The former minister added that she backed Ms Ley to remain as leader, and urged colleagues to unite behind her so the party can deliver serious policies.

Read the full story here.

The fallout from the Coalition’s latest spectacular split will come to a head with a Nationals backbencher moving to skewer David Littleproud’s leadership.

Queensland MP Colin Boyce will attempt to trigger a spill motion against the Nationals leader on Monday as politicians descend on Canberra for the return of Federal Parliament.

Several Nationals members expect the motion will fail to trigger a vote on Mr Littleproud’s leadership as it will need the backing of a colleague in the party room.

“David’s a leader of that team and I’m pretty sure he’ll have the confidence of the room,” Senator Matt Canavan said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at Canberra Airport later in the day, Mr Littleproud said it was up to his party room to make the call.

Read the full story.

The catastrophic spat between the former Coalition partners is proving to be increasingly destructive, as a new poll finds conservative voters abandoning the Liberals and Nationals, while the popularity of One Nation surges.

A recent Redbridge Group poll has found fewer than one in five people support the Liberal Party and Nationals, while Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s personal ratings have hit record lows.

At the same time, support for One Nation has surged to 26 per cent, consolidating Pauline Hanson’s party as the clear second choice of voters behind Labor, which has emerged from its own messy summer largely unscathed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, has taken a sharp hit in his personal ratings, while Hanson is now the most popular political leader in Australia.

In findings likely to embolden those conservatives seeking to force a Liberal leadership spill, the polling shows combined support for the Liberals and Nationals fell from 26 per cent in December to 19 per cent now.

That is 13 points lower than the primary vote the then-Coalition received at the federal election in May last year.

Conversely, One Nation’s primary vote rose from 17 per cent just before Christmas to 26 per cent now, more than four times the 6 per cent it received at the election.

Labor remained statistically even at 34 per cent while the Greens fell 2 percentage points to 11 per cent.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has suggested Pauline Hanson’s Party will grow in size within 24 hours.

Asked about swirling rumours, Mr Joyce, formerly of the Nationals Party, was tight-lipped on who could jump.

“It wouldn’t be a big announcement if I made an announcement today, would it? It would be certainly a scoop. That’s what the word is, a scoop. But I’m not going to make the announcement,” he said.

“I’ll give you a scoop. It’s not Bridget McKenzie.”

“I’m just going to leave it to 24 hours. I think we can get there,” he said.

“Obviously, people are saying that if you want unity, clarity, strength, that One Nation’s the place to be. And polling says that, and the people are saying that. So it’s not unusual.”

One Nation has seen an enormous surge in the polls, with Redbridge data finding that it was the second most preferred party at 26 per cent, behind Labor at 34 per cent.

The Coalition and the Nationals were at 19 per cent in the poll.