Sussan Ley says she’ll survive as opposition leader and wants the Nationals back in the coalition tent, even as they demand her resignation.

The coalition is again embroiled in crisis after Nationals leader David Littleproud walked from the alliance on Thursday, accusing Ms Ley of bringing the partnership to an “untenable position”.

The opposition leader shunned media interviews on Thursday out of respect for the victims for the Bondi terror attack, as Australia marked a national day of mourning.

In appearances on breakfast television shows Sunrise and Today on Friday, though, Ms Ley insisted she had the support of colleagues.

“I’m backed by my Liberal Party and the decisions that I’ve made to date,” she said.

She also said “the door is not closed” on the coalition’s reunification and that the two parties were “always stronger together”.

Amid the chaos, she insisted “her eye was not on the door” but other issues of importance to voters.

The latest fracture is the second uncoupling for the coalition since the 2025 election and happened after Nationals frontbenchers voted against an agreed position on Labor’s hate speech laws.

Mr Littleproud insisted the party had not had time to reach a position on the renegotiated laws but, to Ms Ley, their vote was an unacceptable breach of shadow cabinet solidarity.

“When the team comes together and makes a decision, it should stick to the decision,” she said.

Ms Ley did not deny media reporting when asked to confirm if Mr Littleproud unleashed on her during a phone call on Thursday morning.

The Nationals leader is said to have demanded she immediately reinstate three senators from his party who resigned over hate crime laws.

Mr Littleproud denied reports he yelled at Ms Ley as “nonsense” and said he wouldn’t “rush into anything” when pressed about a potential reconciliation.

“At the moment, we just can’t see a pathway to that,” he said.

“I didn’t make this determination to leave, Sussan Ley did when she accepted (the resignations) and that triggered us.”

While Mr Littleproud maintains the coalition cannot reform with Ms Ley in charge, her deputy Ted O’Brien said the Nationals leader should stay out of their business.

“The Liberal Party leadership is not a matter for the National Party, it is a matter for the Liberal Party,” he told Sky News.

“Sussan Ley has been elected our leader and she will continue to be our leader.”

Insiders from both parties believe the rupture will last much longer than the previous week-long break-up following Labor’s landslide victory in May.

Firebrand conservative senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who moved from the Nationals party room to the Liberals after the election, has previously said she does not have confidence in Ms Ley’s leadership.

Liberals are preparing for a challenge to Ms Ley’s leadership, likely when parliament returns in February, although exact details on the timing have not been locked in.

Conservatives Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie are seen as Ms Ley’s most likely successors.

But one Liberal source described Mr Hastie as “One Nation-lite”, warning his brand of fiery conservative politics would do little to win over new voters.

Mr Taylor also carries baggage from his time as shadow treasurer, with some Liberals claiming he didn’t do enough to develop economic policy in the lead-up to the election.

Rumours of a possible challenge to Mr Littleproud are also swirling.

Former Nationals frontbencher Susan McDonald insisted his position was safe for now and said she hoped the coalition could rejoin forces quickly.

“I’m very optimistic the coalition will get back together at some point, because we know that united, we are stronger,” she said.

“However, at the moment, circumstances are that I think that is unlikely in the near term.”