Nationals ministers should 'resign immediately' amid koala row: legal experts
Top legal experts say NSW National MPs, including Deputy Premier John Barilaro, should resign immediately as ministers after vowing not to support government bills until their demands over state planning policy are met.
Mr Barilaro blindsided Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday by announcing all National Party MPs would sit on the crossbench amid a row over a policy designed to protect koala habitat.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro are at loggerheads over planning policy.Credit:Sydney Morning Herald
The Nationals believe the policy places unfair restrictions on the way landowners can manage their properties and have pushed their Coalition partners for changes.
Mr Barilaro said the Nationals had vowed not to attend the Coalition joint party room or leadership meetings or to vote on government bills amid the standoff. But he said the party's seven ministers would still attend cabinet.
Nature Conservation Council chief executive Chris Gambian said the planning policy was "one small measure to ensure koalas don't become extinct in NSW by 2050" and it was an "extraordinary hill for the Nationals to want to die on".
University of Sydney constitutional law expert Professor Anne Twomey said "all National Party ministers who support this policy would have to resign immediately" because "their continuance in office would be a fundamental breach of the constitutional principle of responsible government".
Anne Twomey said all Nationals ministers who agreed to go to the crossbench must resign.
Professor Twomey said responsible government "includes the principle of collective ministerial responsibility, which has been recognised by the courts".
"One key aspect of collective ministerial responsibility is that ministers publicly support all cabinet decisions. If a minister cannot support a cabinet decision, such as a decision to introduce legislation on a topic, then the minister must resign," Professor Twomey said.
"While in the past there have occasionally been circumstances where a coalition of parties have had a formal 'agreement to disagree' on particular matters, permitting an exception to the doctrine of collective ministerial responsibility, that could not possibly extend to permit a resolution 'to abstain from voting on government bills' until the government agrees to change the law."
UNSW's constitutional law Professor George Williams said it was difficult to see how the National MPs could remain as ministers in the face of such "sharp" disagreement.
Professor George Williams said it would be difficult to remain in cabinet in these circumstances. Credit:Jim Rice
"Being a minister, and especially a cabinet minister, comes with a set of conventions that require solidarity and a willingness to defend the decisions of cabinet. It is difficult to see this will be feasible given these events and the very public level of disagreement," Professor Williams said.
"Where such disagreement exists, cabinet ministers are expected to resign their post on the basis that they cannot continue to observe the requirements of the role."
Professor Williams said ministers were usually drawn from "the party or coalition of parties that commands a majority in the lower house" but they could be selected from outside that group. Ministerial appointments are made by the Governor on the advice of the Premier.
In this case, however, Professor Williams said it was "difficult to see how the NSW cabinet could function effectively if [the Nationals] retain their ministries".