Moderate MPs rally around Ley amid leadership turmoil
Angry moderate Liberals are pushing back against suggestions they might back former SAS soldier Andrew Hastie to take over the party’s top job after intense speculation over Sussan Ley’s leadership.
After a painful week in which Ms Ley vowed to scrap Australia’s climate targets if she won government, a newspaper report suggested disappointed moderate colleagues could back Mr Hastie’s rival bid for the leadership.
The West Australian MP has made no secret of his desire to lead the Liberal Party at some point, but conservatives have said there are no immediate plans to do so.
On Monday, The Australian newspaper reported that a growing number of moderate Liberals had withdrawn their support for Ms Ley and were likely to back Mr Hastie if a vote was held this week.
While members of the group publicly objected to this, some privately acknowledged that a small handful of moderates might seriously consider the change.
“Media reporting this morning about moderates is false,” prominent moderates Anne Ruston and Maria Kovacic said in a joint statement. they said.
“We, along with the overwhelming majority of our moderate colleagues, continue to strongly support Sussan’s leadership.
“This issue was resolved in the party room six months ago and Sussan will lead us strongly to the next election,” the duo said.
Ms Ley is also a moderate and has previously expressed support for the country’s climate goals.
Party members slammed Ms Ley’s decision to abandon net-zero emissions by 2050 as a major concession to the party’s conservative factions and the National Party.
Right-wingers, including Mr Hastie, are now planning a similar internal campaign on immigration policy.
Confronted during a radio interview by a collection of talkback callers who said they wanted Mr. Hastie to take the reins, Ms. Ley said people were entitled to their views but she was focused on policy implications.
“I’m not here for any ego sense of myself,” he told 2GB on Monday.
Domestic anxiety has been further fueled by a new Redbridge/Accent Research poll showing support for the coalition falling five points to 24 per cent, a record low primary vote.
Just 10 per cent of voters named Ms Ley as their preferred prime minister, compared to 40 per cent for Anthony Albanese.
