Leadership reset on the cards to mend coalition divorce
Tess Ikonomou and Zac de Silva |
The leadership teams of both the Liberal and National parties might need a “hard reset” to reconcile the conservative movement, as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley leaves the door open to reunification.
The first woman to lead the Liberals maintains she’ll survive in the top job after facing demands from Nationals leader David Littleproud to step down.
Mr Littleproud broke up the coalition for the second time since the 2025 federal election after Ms Ley accepted the resignations of three Nationals senators due to their breach of shadow cabinet solidarity.
The frontbenchers voted against an agreed position on Labor’s hate speech laws in the upper house on Tuesday evening.
By Wednesday, Mr Littleproud had joined 10 other MPs from his party in tendering their resignations, claiming Ms Ley had led the coalition to an “untenable position”.
As coalition insiders come to grips with the reality of diminished chances of electoral success while separated, the time apart is expected to drag on longer than last time’s divorce.
Many Liberals are also furious at Mr Littleproud for trying to interfere with their party’s decision making.
“People are sick of the Nats acting like terrorists, of the Nats calling the shots,” a Liberal insider told AAP.
A view is forming among the Liberals that a “hard reset in both leaderships” might need to take place for reconciliation to work as “no leader has control over their party room”, they said.
But those close to Ms Ley insist she did nothing wrong in her treatment of the Nationals.
The Liberals are preparing for a potential leadership spill when parliament returns in early February, but the timing is yet to be locked in.
Conservatives Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie are considered the leading contenders.
Some within the party say Mr Taylor, a former shadow treasurer, didn’t do enough to develop economic policy in the lead up to the May 2025 election.
He is returning to Australia this week after a holiday break.
Others are concerned Mr Hastie’s brand of conservatism wouldn’t win over new voters, particularly women.
The opposition leader shunned media interviews on Thursday out of respect for the victims for the Bondi terror attack, as Australia marked a national day of mourning.
Doing the breakfast television rounds on Sunrise and Today, Ms Ley on Friday insisted she woud survive as leader.
“I’m backed by my Liberal Party and the decisions that I’ve made to date,” she said.
She also said “the door is not closed” on the coalition’s reunification and the two parties were “always stronger together”.
Ms Ley did not deny media reporting when asked to confirm if Mr Littleproud unleashed on her during a phone call on Thursday morning.
The Nationals leader is said to have demanded she immediately reinstate three senators from his party who resigned over hate crime laws.
Mr Littleproud called reports he yelled at Ms Ley “nonsense” and said he wouldn’t “rush into anything” when pressed about a potential reconciliation.
“At the moment, we just can’t see a pathway to that,” he said.
“I didn’t make this determination to leave, Sussan Ley did when she accepted (the resignations) and that triggered us.”
While Mr Littleproud maintains the coalition cannot reform with Ms Ley in charge, her deputy Ted O’Brien said the Nationals leader should stay out of their business.
“The Liberal Party leadership is not a matter for the National party, it is a matter for the Liberal Party,” he told Sky News.
“Sussan Ley has been elected our leader and she will continue to be our leader.”
As rumours of a possible challenge to Mr Littleproud swirl, Nationals senator Susan McDonald leapt to his defence and stated her hopes for a quick reunification.
As the chaos unfolded, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese boasted Labor was an “extraordinarily united party”.
“Sussan Ley has been undermined, the first woman leader of the Liberal Party, undermined from day one and the alternative leaders are worse,” he told ABC radio.
AAP
