Critics split as Angus Taylor considers run
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her allies are confidently declaring that she will remain in office, with Conservative critics divided and Andrew Hastie’s supporters hoping Angus Taylor will drop out of the leadership race.
Speculation about Ley’s future increased last week after the Coalition collapsed over a dispute over front-row discipline. Senior Liberals and Nationals were pleading with party leaders on Monday to find a last-ditch solution to avoid a permanent split.
Ley’s lead is fragile, but disagreement on the Right over whether Hastie, 43, or Taylor, 59, should run has boosted Ley’s hopes after it emerged on Saturday that Hastie had turned down an offer to run as Taylor’s running mate.
Far from accepting Taylor’s request, Hastie loyalists hope that Taylor will yield if he accepts their judgment that Hastie has much more support on the Right; This is a claim disputed by Taylor’s supporters, especially since Taylor’s supporters think he has more support among non-right-wingers in the party.
One of Ley’s allies mocked MPs who were pressing behind the scenes for a leak, describing them as a “small group of disgruntled colleagues”.
“They can’t agree on a candidate, they can’t agree on a timetable, they can’t tell Susan Ley what they would do differently to reform the National Party and the Coalition. This isn’t a leak; it’s a joke,” they said, risking embarrassment if the Right got its act together.
Addressing reporters on Australia Day, Ley said there was “absolutely no” belief that his leadership was over.
“I know there is wild speculation in the media. I was chosen as leader by my party chamber. I am doing this; I have the trust of my team,” he said.
Senator Jane Hume, who has been booted from Ley’s front bench but may be offered promotion to fill one of the vacancies by resigning from the Nationals, said on Sky News that “there have been no calls for leaks”. [and] “There is no demand for action.”
Ley’s deputy, Ted O’Brien, said on the ABC that he predicted a leadership challenge would not emerge, saying Ley had shown “tremendous dignity and strength” after taking on Littleproud.
Liberal rebels do not want to overshadow Thursday’s funeral of former Liberal MP Katie Allen with a heated debate over Ley’s leadership, so moves could be accelerated next weekend before MPs return to Canberra on Monday. Any challenger would need more than half of the Liberal party’s 52 MPs.
Taylor approached Australian He repeatedly refused to accept the challenge at the Australia Day ceremony, citing obligations as shadow minister that required him to openly support the current leader.
“But I’m hearing today, and I’m hearing from my colleagues, that we need to do better,” he said.
Some Liberal Party MPs whose support is needed think dumping Ley would satisfy the wishes of National Party leader David Littleproud, whom the Liberals have lost faith in.
Former MP Jason Falinski, who lost the NSW seat of Mackeller to independent Sophie Scamps in 2022, told Sky that a long-term split from the National Party was “not a danger to the Liberal party” and cited “horrible” behavior from the Coalition junior partner.
“So yeah, I think the longer our parties stay apart, the better it will be for the Liberal Party,” Falinski said. “And if the National Party wants to bounce back, it must be after acknowledging that they have learned many lessons from the last decade.”
The next step in the dissolution of the coalition was Littleproud’s appointment of an unofficial “shadow-shadow” cabinet; where National MPs and backbench MPs who until last week served in the real opposition shadow cabinet would be appointed as National spokespeople for specific policy areas.
This announcement is expected to be made this week; At that point the split will become official and Ley will be required to fill the positions vacated by the Nationals in the official shadow front team, which comes with extra money for consultants and salaries, as opposed to the new jobs where Littleproud’s team will be treated like a minor party.
Former leader Michael McCormack said the parties needed to compromise before Littleproud could form his own front line, at which point the split would be final.
“It’s going to take a really long time to relax after this,” he said, echoing the sentiments of at least half a dozen National MPs reluctant to part with their city-based partners.
Territorial Liberal MP Dan Tehan, who has an outside chance of becoming Liberal leader, has issued a dire warning that the opposition will not succeed if the division is not reconciled within the next few weeks.
“Otherwise we’re going to be politically irrelevant for months and months and months; it’s going to get harder and harder to put ourselves back together and all we’re going to do is give Anthony Albanese an absolute gift,” he said.
Ley said Monday his door remains open to Nationals.
Tehan and other senior members of the Liberal Party are still working with senior citizens to prevent a split, but their attempts are unlikely to succeed.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up for our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
Paul Sakkal is the chief political correspondent. It has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect with: excitement or email.
