Angus Taylor, Andrew Hastie hold secret talks in Melbourne
Updated ,first published
Conservative Liberal MPs’ messy plan to replace Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is bogged down by disagreement over who should replace her; candidate Angus Taylor is urging colleagues to avoid a messy spill next week and instead turn the spotlight to Labor over the looming interest rate rise.
A leadership fight is also off the table as Andrew Hastie’s supporters believe they have more support than Taylor and are keen to move quickly.
A secret meeting between Hastie, Taylor and right-wing power brokers James Paterson and Jonno Duniam on Thursday, organized by former MP Michael Sukkar and held just hours before the funeral of his former colleague Katie Allen, failed to reach a consensus on whether Hastie or Taylor would run against Ley.
More talks are needed after two sources who did not want to comment publicly but were aware of the altercation at a house in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs said it was a complex dispute with both men making consistent allegations.
A senior Ley ally said Taylor and Hastie would be shocked to learn the opposition leader had received information hours after the Melbourne meeting ended. A separate source backing Ley said: “So six men are teaming up to figure out how to take on the party’s first female leader before the funeral of a former female colleague.”
At the meeting, the group discussed a number of options, including having the duo work as a leader-deputy combination, as this byline revealed on Saturday. But both men stood firm in wanting the leadership. Hastie’s supporters tout the young West Australian as a generational replacement who could counter the evolving One Nation, while Taylor’s supporters say he will offer stability and Howard-era Liberal values.
Taylor told this imprint on Thursday afternoon: “My focus is on how to reinvigorate the party, how to reinvigorate the Coalition at the right time and how to reinvigorate a nation that’s going backwards.”
Some MPs who spoke to Taylor said he warned against a “crazy” leak that would not allow for a clean change of leadership and said such a move would appear self-indulgent. They also said it could end in disaster if the Liberals in parliament next week fail to focus on a possible rate hike that would damage Labour’s economic credibility.
Another right-wing source involved in the leadership talks described the situation as “messy” and damaging to the Right faction. One Nation beat the Coalition in recent polls, and changes to policy and values were the subject of discussion at Thursday’s meeting.
Paterson and Duniam are key members of Ley’s leadership and continue to publicly support them despite being involved in backroom discussions that suggest the writing is on the wall for the current leader; however, stalemate can cause stagnation to last for weeks or months.
Hastie’s group claims to have a much higher level of support within the Right faction than Taylor. Taylor’s side has backed down, and neutral right-wingers say Hastie’s claims of support have not been tested.
Taylor’s camp has been critical of Hastie’s supporters, saying they have no coherent plan for how to turn Hastie’s demand for 20 votes into a majority that will vote for a spill, including centrists and some Moderates.
Hastie’s allies, meanwhile, believe Taylor deluded himself into thinking he had enough support within the Right that he would eventually cave.
The stalemate means a challenge to Ley next week is less likely than if the Right were united; but Hastie’s camp may still choose to move next week, or a rogue bomb-thrower could trigger a leak if opinion polls yield even more disastrous results.
The leadership leak at Nationals on Monday further complicates matters. Leader David Littleproud is expected to prevail easily, but continued chaos in the small Coalition party has delayed peace talks between the parties, which had little chance of yielding results anyway.
While Ley waits for Littleproud to emerge from the leak, he is expected to give the current front-rowers interim responsibilities to fill the portfolio responsibilities vacated by the Nationals who left en masse last week.
The dramatic leadership talks took place against the backdrop of a memorial service for former Federal Liberal MP Katie Allen, which drew hundreds of party figures to Melbourne.
Hastie arrived at the secret meeting in a car with Duniam and O’Sullivan, with whom he shared a house while in Canberra. Taylor then arrived alone and all the deputies left for the funeral at the same time. Paterson is close to both Taylor and Hastie, and Sukkar knows them both well.
Paterson previously told ABC Melbourne: “If it were, I wouldn’t be speaking to you this morning as shadow minister for finance. [Ley] didn’t [have my support]. “I understand my responsibilities under the Westminster Convention.”
At the funeral, Ley entered St Paul’s Cathedral with soloist Aaron Violi. He left with Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson.
Hastie and Taylor arrived just before the ceremony began. Most Conservative MPs did not attend the funeral after the service, but Taylor, who knew Allen’s widow, spent part of the funeral with former MP Alan Tudge, while Hastie returned to his accommodation at the Athenaeum Club.
Following the memorial service, mourners spread out on Flinders Street and Ley’s factional allies gathered around him. They included former defense secretary Marise Payne, Moderate leader Anne Ruston and her deputy Ted O’Brien.
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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: X or email.
