The resignation caught MPs off guard and immediately reshaped the political landscape ahead of a tense week for the Coalition. Saunders, who had led the Nationals for less than three years, announced his departure as the Liberal and National parties continue to clash internally over net-zero emissions targets, reports 7 News.
The federal Coalition recently abandoned its commitment to net zero by 2050. Saunders had said he supported that shift “in principle.”
The NSW Liberals have refused to move with Canberra, insisting they will stick with the target.
Leaked internal polling suggests Liberal voters in almost all 24 of the party’s state seats still back net zero, while National Party electorates appear much more split. It creates a widening gap between the Coalition partners at a time when unity is already thin.
Premier Chris Minns defended Liberal leader Mark Speakman for holding the line. “Mark Speakman deserves credit. I mean he’s taken a principled position here,” Minns said Monday. “He’s gone to the last few elections on a net zero platform. He’s not prepared to abandon that position just because the Commonwealth parties have decided to split.”
The Liberals will hold an extended party-room meeting on Tuesday morning to debate the issue, though insiders say the climate fight likely won’t be enough to stop a leadership challenge brewing against Speakman. Saunders’ abrupt exit has only heightened that mood, with some MPs now pushing for a contest before the year’s end.
Saunders’ departure also amid public attention after Sunday’s documentary, which featured his teenage daughter, who used the pseudonym “Willow”, discussing how she entered the adult-content world at 18. “Hi, I’m Willow, I’m 19 and I started making adult content as soon as I turned 18,” she said in the film, which focused on the rapid growth of platforms like OnlyFans among young women. She did not mention her father or his role in state politics.
“No girls growing up say they want to be Taylor Swift because that would never happen,” Willow said in the documentary. “But we can be like the OnlyFans girls. We can get rich like they have.”
