Sussan Ley has not ‘put a foot wrong' in Coalition dispute
Outgoing Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes weighs in on the leadership of both Sussan Ley and David Littleproud, amid the split of the Coalition.
'He is the person, in effect, who walked away from the Coalition agreement; it was not Sussan Ley who did so,' Ms Hughes told Sky News host Rowan Dean.
'No one really understood his urgency in doing so earlier this week.
'I don't think Sussan's put a foot wrong … she has done everything she can to keep the Liberal side together.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
‘No Plan B': Australia to crash through or crash on AUKUS
Canberra/Los Angeles | Defence Minister Richard Marles has dismissed calls from former prime ministers Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull to abandon AUKUS to develop a fallback plan in case the US reneges on a deal to provide nuclear-powered submarines, saying there can be no more chopping and changing. Confident the Pentagon review of the $386 billion tripartite security pact announced on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) was a 'perfectly natural' act by an incoming government, Marles said there could be no going back to the days of the Coalition government that wasted time and money pursuing nuclear submarines from both Japan and France before settling on the AUKUS plan.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Liberal MP complaint referred to anti-corruption body
A Liberal MP has been referred to an anti-corruption body over an offer that could have deferred a former party's whopping legal bill in exchange for guaranteed preselection. A member of the public made a complaint about Victorian Liberal Moira Deeming to the state's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) after reports of the proposed deal, which fell over. Anyone can make a referral to IBAC but that does do not automatically trigger a full investigation, with the body aiming to assess all complaints within 45 days. Former Liberal leader John Pesutto owes $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Mr Pesutto faces bankruptcy and a forced exit from parliament unless the money is paid or a payment plan sorted out within weeks. On Wednesday, a member of the public who said he was "frankly outraged" by the reports of the proposed deal emailed Liberal MPs to notify them he had referred the matter to the corruption body. "If it takes people like me - outsiders - to initiate this kind of action and help uphold the standards of integrity that all political parties should meet, then I will continue to do so without hesitation," he wrote in the email, obtained by AAP. The man who made the complaint told AAP he is not a member of the Liberal Party but had been a member of three other political parties in the past. On Sunday, Mrs Deeming wrote to Mr Pesutto, his successor Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis with a series of demands that would spare Mr Pesutto bankruptcy and see her endorsed for pre-selection ahead of the November 2026 election. In the letter, she said she was "dismayed" the Liberal Party was considering a request the state party assist Mr Pesutto meet his financial obligations to her. "It is because of the extraordinary support that I have received from rank-and-file members that I make this offer with the intention that the funds they have raised to fight the Labor Party remain solely directed to that important objective," she wrote. She demanded Mr Pesutto pay the roughly $760,000 he has raised so far, while the rest of the debt would be put on ice until 2027. Mrs Deeming's other requests included that the party release an unreserved apology to her. "I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected," she wrote. "This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied to me, my husband and my children." A special resolution would have had to be passed to endorse preselection for her upper house seat. Traditionally, Liberal preselection is finalised through a vote of rank-and-file members. Mrs Deeming has been contacted for comment.
7NEWS
3 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Tasmanians heading to polls on July 19 after embattled premier Jeremy Rockliff's early election request granted
Tasmanians will go to the polls on July 19 after the embattled Liberal premier's request for an early election was granted. Jeremy Rockliff returned to Government House on Wednesday evening to meet with Governor Barbara Baker, six days after he lost the confidence of the parliament. In a statement after the meeting, Baker confirmed she would dissolve parliament and issue the writ for an election to be held on July 19. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today It will be the fourth state election in seven years after early polls were also held in 2021 and 2024. 'Notwithstanding the recent 2024 election, the public interest in avoiding the cost of another election and the prevailing public mood against holding an election, I have granted Premier Rockliff a dissolution,' Baker said in the statement. 'I make this grant because I am satisfied that there is no real possibility that an alternative government can be formed.' Rockliff has resisted pressure to resign and insisted the backing of his party room remains solid, despite reports former senator Eric Abetz and ex-deputy premier Michael Ferguson were willing to be leader. 'I have a commitment from my team to support me as leader and I am not going anywhere,' he said earlier on Wednesday. Rockliff denied he was 'driven by ego' in not standing aside from leading the minority government. Liberal MP Jacquie Petrusma didn't directly answer when asked if the party was doing numbers to roll Rockliff. 'The premier is a fantastic leader and he has 100 per cent support of the PLP (parliamentary Liberal Party),' she said. Baker also met Labor leader Dean Winter on Wednesday afternoon. Labor, which has just 10 of 35 lower-house seats, had said it would not look to form a minority government with the Greens. 'In that meeting (with the governor) I reiterated my position that Labor will not be doing a deal with the Greens,' Winter said. Labor, whose no-confidence motion against Rockliff was backed by the Greens and three crossbench independents, had called on the premier to step down. 'We've gotten to this point because of Jeremy Rockliff and his refusal to resign,' Labor MP Shane Broad said. 'I come from a farm and no matter how much you love that old sheep dog, if you can't round up sheep anymore it's time to get a new one.' Rockliff claimed the no-confidence motion was a deceptive power grab, while Labor says it was because of the Liberals' poor budget and project mismanagement. The premier took a crack at Winter for failing to 'front up' and hold a press conference on Wednesday. The Liberals had already appeared to be in fully fledged campaign mode, visiting a hospital to announce a four-year elective surgery plan. They were returned to power in March 2024, winning 14 seats and cobbling together enough support from the crossbench to govern.
