George Christensen has warned Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce he is preparing to cross the floor and vote against government policy, just days after senator Cory Bernardi departed the Liberal Party.
While the Turnbull government continues to deal with the fallout of Senator Bernardi's defection, the Nationals' whip has signalled his intention to break from the government line and support a commission of inquiry into the nation's banking industry.
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Mr Christensen first indicated his support for further investigation into the banking sector late last year, after originally voting with the government to kill off moves to establish a royal commission.
But after talking with crossbencher Bob Katter, who plans to introduce legislation calling for a commission of inquiry into the banking sector – with the same powers as a royal commission – as early as next month, Mr Christensen announced he would split from his party and side with Mr Katter.
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"I had a discussion [with Mr Joyce] about it and he told me it is not government policy," he said.
"I won't divulge the rest of the conversation, and I do need to be clear here, it isn't government policy.
"…I'm not criticising what the government is doing…but [I think] there needs to be more."
Mr Christensen, who has stated he would stay with the Coalition as long as it remained true to conservatism, said while he would not seek to actively agitate, he would not be shy in standing up for issues "I feel strident on".
I've spoken with @realbobkatter re banks. He is going to introduce bill to set up Commission of Inquiry into banks. It will have my support.
— George Christensen (@GChristensenMP) February 8, 2017
Labor has indicated it will look at the proposed legislation, but "won't stop fighting for a royal commission into the banks", while Greens MP Adam Bandt said that while he believed Mr Christensen was "sabre rattling" in the wake of Senator Bernardi's jump to the crossbench, he would also look at lending his vote to the move.
"If he's fair dinkum about it, we have a real chance of establishing a commission of inquiry with the powers of a royal commission in this term of parliament," he said.
While Mr Christensen's vote would, with the votes of the crossbench and Labor, provide enough support for the legislation to pass the lower house, the Queensland MP said he was a realist about its chances of success.
"The reality is, to get a private member's bill actually voted on and passed is extremely difficult," he said.
"I actually do think that we [the government] are tracking in the right direction, particularly the external dispute resolution framework, but my push for the commission is because I believe there are a myriad of other problems [with the industry] and it needs to be flushed out.
Bill unlikely to be intro'ed til March, dealt with June. In interim, external dispute resolution framework push by @KellyODwyer is welcome. https://t.co/vnngmJlETp
— George Christensen (@GChristensenMP) February 8, 2017
Mr Katter said he was aware of the challenges, but optimistic.
"Labor took the initiative in the last vote we had – they are standing strong on it and the Greens, far be it from me to say anything nice about the Greens…I couldn't fault them on this issue," he said.
"We very much appreciate Mr Christensen's courage – very few have the courage to buck the party system."