All shadow ministers from the National Party have resigned from the front bench en masse after a schism with the Liberals over hate crime laws, leaving the coalition teetering on the brink of its second break-up in eight months.
The mass resignation comes after Nationals frontbenchers Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald moved to the back bench earlier on Wednesday after voting against the government's contentious anti-hate legislation in the Senate the previous night.
