As the Liberals’ post-election game of pass-the-poison chalice begins, there’s a few people obviously eager for the least enviable job in politics. Anyone remember Simon Crean or Brendan Nelson?
The choice is already firming up as between more of the same wet me-too-ism that has driven the Libs’ base to the arms of minor parties or a half-arsed conservative who floundered during the recent election campaign.
Sussan Ley has publicly put her hand up to lead the Liberal Party, declaring the party has let the women of Australia down and must rebuild.
Ms Ley and her rival Angus Taylor are now on the verge of fighting a bloody civil war against each other that threatens to engulf the Liberals beyond next Tuesday’s vote to replace Peter Dutton.
As if leadership of an opposition after a brutal election defeat is ever a maiden aunt’s tea party.
The Acting Opposition Leader said on Friday that her permanent elevation would send a signal that the Liberals were on the side of female voters they lost under Mr Dutton and Scott Morrison.
Here come the quotas.
Dan Tehan has publicly ruled out he will make a bid for the Liberal Party leadership, promising that he will “work hard and serve in whatever capacity I am asked to rebuild our party”.
Mr Tehan had been considered a front-runner to win the leadership after Peter Dutton lost his seat in Saturday’s election in a Labor landslide.
The contest will now be between Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley.
Taylor is being blamed by disgruntled party members, especially MPs who lost their seats, for his lacklustre role in the 2025 campaign. As shadow treasurer, they argue, Taylor singularly failed to sell the coalition’s economic credentials. That may be true enough, but, like many frontbenchers, Taylor was hamstrung by a bizarre, weak strategy from a dysfunctional campaign headquarters.
Post-election, Taylor has pulled off a coup that will surely boost the Liberals in opposition, at the expense of enraging their Nationals coalition colleagues.
Mr Taylor on Thursday orchestrated the high-profile defection of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price from the Nationals to bolster his numbers, and said his business credentials make him the best person to rebuild the devastated opposition […]
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defended her decision to defect to the Liberal Party, stating that “extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures”.
Ms Price refused to speculate on whether she would put up her hand for a leadership role and run as Angus Taylor‘s deputy at the Liberal Party meeting next week.
Naturally, Price’s move infuriated her National colleagues, with National Senator Matt Canavan blasting her publicly. Price, for her part, points out that she was a Country Liberal Party senator for the Northern Territory before moving to National in the federal parliament. Still, waka-jumping less than a week after the election, from a party that at least held its own to one which was trounced, might seem like a strange move.
But, should Taylor win, Price is in a strong position to take the deputy leadership. So Canavan is right that it’s all about personal ambition – but, hey, that’s politics.
Price is hugely popular among Australian conservatives, often touted as a future prime minister – something that would almost certainly be out of reach as a National. But she has a long way to go, yet. Legally, a senator can be prime minister – but that’s only happened once. Even then, John Gorton moved to the lower house shortly after becoming PM. So, unless a handy by-election intervenes, Price will have to wait till at least the next election.
Price’s relative inexperience is also a telling factor.
Senator Nampijinpa Price drew nationwide attention after becoming a leading No campaigner during the 2023 Voice referendum and has been an important fundraising figure across branches in the lead up to the campaign.
However, she was blamed for helping derail defeated opposition leader Peter Dutton’s efforts to distance himself from Donald Trump’s politics after telling reporters she wanted to “make Australia great again”.
Photographs on Facebook of Senator Nampijinpa Price wearing a MAGA cap at Christmas were also widely distributed during the campaign.
With the media slavering to amplify any connection, however tenuous, to the Trump White House, Price’s was an easily avoided gaffe. Perhaps she ought to take some advice from Winston Peters on how to deal with the media.
A rank outsider for the leadership is West Australian MP Andrew Hastie. Hastie, a former SAS commander, has all the right credentials, is a young, centre-right conservative and, trivial as it sounds, good looking enough not to scare off the sort of fatuous women voters who take their cues from the clucking hens of Mammamia and The Project. Like Price, however, his relative lack of cabinet experience works against him.
On the other hand, new blood is just what the Liberals need. Still, Hastie would be well advised to bide his time. Opposition leader at a time like now is a thankless proposition.
