The unhappiness among the Coalition has been there for awhile. The first agreement was in 1923, but the two parties were very different then (the Nationalists and the Country Party).

Both parties celebrated their own anniversaries, but did nothing to mark the 100 years of the Coalition in 2023.

There have been other splits – Joh for Canberra was one – and in WA, there is no agreement. And the Nationals have won the royalties for regions package which has distributed $7bn. So they can work apart.

But still. This break is coming just as the parties are trying to rebuild electoral relevancy – both were bruised by the last election (the Nats lost a senator in NSW, but held their lower house seats).

The Nats are feeling bolshy because they have more lower house seats now than they did in the Howard years. Which is better than the Liberals.