Nationals Leader Shane Love denies bullying allegations, insists position is not in doubt

Shane Love “can think of nothing” he has done to hurt former colleague Louise Kingston, who sensationally accused the Opposition Leader of “relentless bullying and harassment” as she quit the Nationals on Thursday. Ms Kingston’s claims in Parliament — which are legally protected — have plunged the country party into crisis and forced Mr Love to defend his position as leader. Addressing the allegations on Friday morning, Mr Love told the ABC he “absolutely” denied ever bullying Ms Kingston. “Of course such an accusation would make you reflect,” he said. “I can think of nothing that I’ve done which would make Louise feel that way.” Mr Love added he had never been accused of bullying by anyone within the WA Nationals and that Ms Kingston had not lodged a formal complaint through the party’s established reporting process. “If there’s anybody who feels aggrieved, they have a complaint process that they can take part in,” he said. “That was put in place several years ago and as far as I’m aware — in fact, I am aware — no complaint has been made under that process.” Mr Love insisted his position at the helm of both the WA Nationals and the formal opposition was not under threat. “I’ve got the full support, as I understand, from my party,” he said. He suggested Ms Kingston’s actions were motivated by the Nationals recent Upper House preselection, which saw the Albany local fall to an unwinnable fifth on the combined statewide ticket. That was despite Ms Kingston being the only one of the Nationals three incumbent MLCs who were seeking to be re-elected in 2025. “I think this is as a result of a difficult and bruising preselection process,” Mr Love said. “But we’ve gone through that, and we have now preselected candidates for the Upper House who are great champions for regional WA.” The first and second of those Upper House candidates are WA Nationals president Julie Freeman, a Mullewa farmer, and Northampton deputy shire president Rob Horstman. Both live within the new Mid West electorate that Mr Love is contesting against National-turned-Liberal Mem Beard in 2025. In a tearful address late on Thursday afternoon, Ms Kingston told Parliament she had raised her bullying claims “directly” with Mr Love. “I have been the victim of relentless bullying and harassment by the leader of the Nationals,” Ms Kingston said. “I raised it with others and addressed it directly with him. I believed the situation had been resolved, so therefore did not pursue a formal process through the party. “I believed everyone had learnt from the situation and used the opportunity to grow and build better relationships. Unfortunately I have now learnt a hard lesson.” Ms Kingston said she believed she had been “punished” for taking a stance against the bullying by an “underhanded campaign”. “the Party decided I was not worthy to be a part of their team going forward, by pre-selecting me in an unwinnable position,” Ms Kingston said. “This is a pattern of behaviour. People come and go, but in more recent times, many talented people have left, and I now join those people. “I sincerely hope that this leads to further changes in the party to address the issues I have raised. It is too late for me, but others need to be protected into the future.” Ms Kingston will now sit the remainder of her time in Parliament as an independent. Her decision to head to the crossbench leaves the Nationals with just two Upper House members, both of whom have already declared their intention to resign at the next election. Colin de Grussa pulled out of the Nationals preselection on the eve of the contest while Martin Aldridge announced his exit in April. Former Nationals and Opposition Leader Mia Davies began the exodus when stepping down at the start of 2023 and revealing she planned to step away from politics in 2025.