Leadership strains within the 20-strong Nationals party room have intensified with the heir-apparent Barnaby Joyce accused of trying to hurry current leader Warren Truss out the door.
At issue is the highest rank attainable by a Nationals MP, that of Deputy Prime Minister.
It comes as Bill Shorten heads into the Nationals heartland on Saturday to hammer the message that the rural party is split over its leadership, beholden to the Liberals, and can no longer be regarded as the natural representatives of rural and regional Australia.
While Mr Joyce has denied disloyalty, angry pro-Truss Nationals say the man Tony Abbott had described as Australia's best "retail politician" seems to have concluded that his chances of securing the leadership are fading unless the change-over happens soon, meaning before the end of the year.
Some Nationals concede the later Mr Truss leaves it, the more time it allows for a younger alternative to emerge, with names like Michael McCormack and the marathon-running Darren Chester mentioned.
A Truss loyalist said Mr Joyce's working assumption that he would lead the party, and some less-than- subtle manouvreing, had offended neutral Nationals and engendered a new phenomenon, the ABBC or "anyone-but-Barnaby camp".
Those close to Mr Truss, 66, confirm he could decide to step down early next year. But, they stress, he might also decide to stay on.
Mr Truss and his wife Lyn are known to have been close socially to Tony and Margie Abbott.
"Barnaby's petrified that if it doesn't happen this year, he may never be leader," said one insider.
At the very least, the situation reveals a breakdown in the personal relationship between the two most prominent Nationals.
Mr Joyce responded to Fairfax Media's questions over his loyalty with one of his own: "Have I ever come to you with one of these stories? The answer is no" he said.
"I've said I'd be loyal to Warren and I have and will be."
He said Mr Abbott's post-defeat condemnation of anonymous backgrounders "may be apt in this case".
Sources contacted by Fairfax Media said the revelation that the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had telephoned Mr Joyce on the Sunday evening before his ambush of Mr Abbott, showed the Nationals MP was "part of the push to elect Turnbull". They said it also suggested the man generally referred to simply as "Barnaby", may have some kind of understanding with Mr Turnbull.
A spokesman for Mr Joyce has pointedly denied that the Agriculture Minister had given "two thumbs up" to the challenge which, when it suddenly materialised the following afternoon of Monday, September 14, took Mr Abbott entirely by surprise and summarily ended his leadership.
While senators Fiona Nash and Matt Canavan are regarded as pro-Joyce, Truss-aligned Nationals say his leadership rival would fall well short of a majority if the matter came to a vote.
Tensions within the party played out at this month's Nationals Federal Conference where the former federal MP, and one-time lobbyist for the Chinese coal miner Shenhua, Larry Anthony became president.
His promotion had been delayed briefly by an attempted procedural stay to enable other candidates to emerge. The battle played out as a proxy contest between Truss and Joyce supporters with the former prevailing easily with 57 delegates to 9.
Truss backers said Mr Joyce had been on the wrong side of the mainstream within the party in both his trenchant opposition to the Shenhua coal mine in his New England electorate and in his previous campaign against the sale of Cubby Station to a consortium containing Chinese and Japanese interests.
Visiting Casino in the northern NSW hinterland within the Nationals-held federal seat of Page, Mr Shorten will use an address to the inaugural Country Labor Forum to emphasise unemployment and under-employment as well as cuts to dementia programs and other aged care services in the bush.
On a wafer-thin margin of just 2.5 per cent, Page is the Nationals' most marginal seat nationwide, and the Coalition's 12th most marginal.
Like most regional areas, it is struggling with an ageing population placing extra demand on services.
"People living with dementia in remote, rural and regional communities have been unfairly targeted as a result of this government's shambling and cruel approach to dementia care," said Labor's candidate, Janelle Saffin.
"Aged care providers in northern NSW are concerned that Malcolm Turnbull's failure to appoint a minister for ageing could lead to further neglect of aged care and dementia services in non-metropolitan areas."
