Sussan Ley’s allies urge Angus Taylor’s backers ‘put your name to it’ amid leadership plot to oust her | Sussan Ley
Sussan Ley’s allies want the Liberal leader to demand her rivals put their names on a petition calling for leaks, forcing Angus Taylor’s supporters to publicly declare they are plotting to bring her down.
The move was discussed in private talks on Tuesday and has echoes of the tactic then-Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull used to stop Peter Dutton’s failed leadership coup in 2018.
Sources close to Ley said Taylor has no plans to request the given names, which he has not yet announced his intention to do.
Speculation is mounting that Taylor will resign from the shadow cabinet on Wednesday afternoon and enter the leadership race by Friday morning at the latest.
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Under liberal party conventions, MPs can request that the leader call a special meeting of the party chamber to consider a motion to dissolve the leadership.
A group of Ley supporters, including prominent moderates, want Taylor to insist his supporters put their names to a petition to prove they have enough support for the fight.
New South Wales senator and leading moderate Maria Kovacic had a clear message for Taylor’s supporters, telling the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing programme: “If you want it, put your name down and get it done.”
“We need these individuals to be very transparent about why they want a leak and why they want this leak,” he said.
“If we’re going to be held accountable, name it. I think we’re all fed up with what’s been going on over the last few months. It’s gotten out of hand in the last few days and enough is enough.”
Another Ley supporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Guardian Australia that “cowardice cannot be tolerated”.
“Those who want to support the biggest act of misogyny in recent times cannot be allowed to hide in the shadows of the party hall,” they said.
The MP said his colleagues were “surprised” that Taylor and fellow front-line defenders James Paterson and Jonno Duniam had not resigned from Ley’s senior leadership team, given the right-wing trio took part in secret talks last month to discuss whether Taylor or Andrew Hastie would challenge Ley.
in 2018 Turnbull made demands from Dutton supporters present him with the names of a majority of the caucus before holding their second meeting of the week to consider a leak.
Dutton secured 43 names but lost the subsequent leadership vote to Scott Morrison.
Ley did not face a leak motion at the Liberal party room meeting on Tuesday morning.
A leak motion was always considered unlikely because senators were not expected to attend due to anticipated hearings.
However, some upper house MPs were also present at the closed-door meeting, including Victorian backbencher Jane Hume.
After warning on Monday that the party would be “dismantled” without an urgent change of direction, Hume directly challenged Ley to outline how he plans to turn things around at Tuesday’s meeting.
In response, Ley told the chamber that “separation is death”, according to two Liberal MPs present at the meeting.
Hume is a moderate but backed conservative Taylor in last year’s leadership vote against Ley, infuriating his factional allies and contributing to his ouster from the shadow cabinet.
The former shadow finance minister, who worked closely with Taylor when he was Peter Dutton’s shadow treasurer, is being mentioned as a candidate for deputy leader if Taylor wins the leadership.
Taylor’s supporters are adamant the 59-year-old has the numbers to win the leadership this week and argue Ley’s position is untenable after the latest Newspoll showed the Coalition’s preselection vote falling to 18%, nine points behind One Nation.
Ley refuses to step aside voluntarily, and his allies remain suspicious that Taylor knows the numbers.
Senior moderates continue to support Ley and refuse to make a deal with Taylor to plan his exit; This means the right must persuade centre-right and neutral MPs to secure leadership.
Ley defeated Taylor by 29 votes to 25 to win the Liberal leadership after the 2025 election.
The structure of the party hall has changed since then; Ley lost supporters Hollie Hughes, Linda Reynolds and Gisele Kapterian, who were allowed to vote on the ballot while counting continued in Bradfield.
Taylor gained an extra supporter in Jess Collins, who replaced Hughes in the Senate.
Asked directly on Tuesday whether he supported Ley remaining as leader, Liberal leader and moderate powerbroker Andrew Bragg told the ABC’s RN Breakfast: “Yes, I do.”
Senior Liberal right-winger Jonathon Duniam said Taylor needed to clarify her plans.
He told Sky News: “If there is an intention for the leadership to change then people need to make their views clear. If they are not going to change then they need to ignore it.”
