Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will know Friday morning if the Liberal Party will let her keep her job. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Federal Liberal Party will face off over its leadership at 9 am Friday (13 February), with right-winger Angus Taylor declaring his intention to challenge for the job currently held by the more centrist Sussan Ley.
Ms Ley has so far made no public comment on the leadership wranglings since Mr Taylor resigned from her frontbench on Wednesday evening.
She has, however, agreed to a partyroom meeting on Friday morning for members to first vote on whether a spill of positions should go ahead, and then, if that gets up for a ballot, on who should be the Liberal leader.
Mr Taylor is the only one so far prepared to publicly challenge Ms Ley, and did so through a post on social media Thursday morning, saying the party was in trouble and had lost its way.
“I’m running to be the leader of the Liberal Party, because I believe that Australia is worth fighting for,” he said on a video posted to X and accompanied by dramatic background music.
“I’m dedicated to serving you, the Australian people, and giving you a strong alternative that re-enlivens the great Australian dream.
“I’m committing myself to the cause of restoring our party so it can be the party Australians expect and deserve.”
Numbers are very tight – tighter than the Taylor camp is portraying – but the conservatives in the party seem to have locked in behind the contender.
Six shadow ministers resigned their frontbench posts before midday Thursday, the most prominent (after Mr Taylor) being James Paterson and Jonno Duniam.
Senator Paterson fronted the media at Parliament House to explain his decision and declare his support for Mr Taylor.
“Over the last nine months, according to the most recent opinion polls, 2.1 million of those people have since deserted the Coalition,” he said.
“That’s more than 200,000 votes a month. It’s more than 50,000 votes a week. It’s more than 7000 votes a day. This cannot go on.
“If it goes on, there’ll be nothing left of the Liberal Party by the next election. It’s for those reasons that this morning I tendered my resignation to the Leader of the Liberal Party, Sussan Ley.
“It’s something that I didn’t do lightly. It’s something I did with a heavy heart. Sussan is a decent person. She is a good Liberal. She has been dealt many tough hands in the last nine months.
“But I no longer have confidence in her ability to turn this ship around, to get our party back on track before the next election.”
Senator Duniam issued a statement to say that while he accepted his own role in the current dire situation the Coalition finds itself in, he could no longer support Ms Ley.
“Sussan has worked harder than many will ever know, and I have stood with her all the way — but this matter must now be resolved,” he said.
While Mr Taylor’s supporters are being the most vocal, Ms Ley retains the support of many in the party.
Moderates are outraged at the move against her and are also aghast at the optics of removing the party’s first female federal leader after just nine months in the job.
That is particularly so when women voters deserted the Coalition in droves at the last election under the leadership of Peter Dutton.
Shadow attorney-general Andrew Wallace said the Opposition Leader will mount a strong defence of her position.
“I think Sussan, along with a number of our colleagues, believe that she has the numbers in the party room,” he said.
“I think that she will stick it out and she’ll chance her arm.”
While the possibility remains that a third candidate could enter the leadership race, it is more likely that the field for the party’s deputy leader role will be larger.
In addition to current deputy leader Ted O’Brien, Taylor ally Jane Hume looks set to put her hand up – not least of all to keep a woman in the party’s leadership.
Member for Goldstein Tim Wilson has also been mooted as a candidate for deputy, while Member for Durack Melissa Price – a vocal supporter of Ms Ley – has declared she will put her hand up too.
“I’ve spoken to a number of people. Why not? Why not? I think I’ve got a lot to offer,” Ms Price said.
“I’m very experienced. I’ve been here since 2013. I think I’d be a good counterbalance to Angus should he become the leader.”
Mr Taylor took a seat on the backbench during House of Representatives Question Time on Thursday afternoon, allowing Labor ministers to attack his policy record and highlight the state of disunity within Opposition ranks.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
