Liberal senator says Sussan Ley is ‘losing support’ and declines to endorse her as leader | Sussan Ley

A Liberal supporter has refused to back Sussan Ley as leader, declaring she has “lost support” amid serious opinion polls and bitter infighting over net-zero emissions.

Conservative Victorian senator Sarah Henderson told Sky News on Friday morning that she “can’t support things as they are at the moment” but was hopeful the opposition could turn things around.

Asked if Ley could turn things around, Henderson said: “I don’t know.

“I don’t support the way things are going and I’m desperate for us to do better.

“I think there was a growing concern in our party about the path we were going to take… the internal strife was terrible.”

Asked if he thought things could be better under Ley, Henderson paused and replied: “Well… I will say that I cannot support the way things are at the moment.”

He acknowledged that the comments were not supportive of Ley.

_{Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email}

He later said he was not looking for a new leader, before reiterating his view that Ley had “lost support”.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament House immediately after the Sky interview, Henderson doubled down on his comments.

“At the end of the day, we need to do better, and I’m very hopeful that we can turn this ship around,” he said. “I think a lot of my colleagues are quite concerned about the way things are going.”

Henderson is a factional rival of Ley, who was kicked out of the shadow cabinet after the election; This means the criticism will not come as a surprise to the leader and his allies.

But the comments will still inflame internal tensions ahead of a crucial series of meetings next week to determine the Liberal party and Coalition’s position on net-zero emissions.

Despite protests from liberal moderates, Ley is expected to follow the National Party in setting net-zero emissions as a target due to concerns from senior colleagues that the term has become “toxic” in political debate.

The two leading candidates to replace Ley, Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie, support abandoning the target and are pressing the leader to follow suit.

Henderson refused to answer the question of whether Hastie or Taylor could have done a better job; but senator strongly supports abandoning net zero policy.

Pressure on Ley’s position also intensified after the Coalition’s primary vote fell to 1. record low 24% Just nine points ahead of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in the latest News Poll.

Ley’s personal approval rating fell to minus 33, according to the poll published in The Australian.

While the leader insisted this week that his position was secure, Taylor and other leading conservatives ruled out a challenge this year.

The Liberal party’s stance on net zero emissions will be formalized when the Liberal shadow minister meets in Canberra next Thursday, following a party room meeting the day before to approve a “set of principles” on climate and energy.

The three senior Liberals and Nationals will then outline a common position that will be presented to a virtual Coalition meeting on Sunday 16 November.

In an opinion piece published in the Australian Financial Review on Friday, shadow energy minister Dan Tehan laid the groundwork for the Liberals to abandon a Scott Morrison-era promise to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

“We urgently need a reset to shift the way we think about energy and emissions reduction away from doomsday narratives towards rational policies that prioritize strategic investment in R&D and innovation,” Tehan wrote.

“The political debate on climate change needs to reset.”