The Coalition needs to find a leader who can ‘resonate' with regular Australians
'It needs to find a leader who can resonate with ordinary Australians,' Mr Richardson told Sky News Australia.
'I'm not sure that they've got one – Sussan Ley certainly doesn't appear to be the person.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Michael McCormack to back Barnaby Joyce's bill to dump emission reduction targets and won't rule out leadership challenge
Michael McCormack has revealed he will back Barnaby Joyce's bill to axe emission reduction targets and denied ruling out a leadership tilt against David Littleproud. The issue of emission reduction targets has become a contentious sticking point within the Coalition, with policy disagreements on the matter spurring the Nationals to briefly depart its decade-long political partnership with the Liberals in late May. Liberal leader Sussan Ley in an attempt to modernise the party's brand has hailed 'reducing emissions' as a crucial policy aim despite her country counterparts repeatedly speaking out against the policy. The issue once again ignited on Monday, with veteran Nationals MP and former party leader Barnaby Joyce insisting the Coalition needed to scrap it's position on clean energy targets. Michael McCormack has declared he will support Barnaby Joyce's private member's bill to dump net zero. Picture: NCA/Martin Ollman However, in a major development, Mr McCormack, who convinced the Nationals to support then-prime minister Scott Morrison's clean energy targets in 2021, declared that he would be officially supporting Mr Joyce's private members bill to overhaul Australia's net zero commitments. Mr Joyce has been a long-time critic of renewable energy targets and has vowed to table legislation in the new parliamentary term to abolish the government's net zero deadlines. The move would serve as a significant blow to Ms Ley's leadership. In an interview with The Australian, Mr McCormack said the policy was resoundingly opposed by the Nationals and that the Albanese government's renewables push was disproportionately damaging regional communities and 'dividing families'. 'They are creating acrimony among people who have been friends for not just years, but for generations. They divide and conquer,' Mr McCormack, said referring to renewable energy companies. Mr Joyce rubbished Mr Littleproud's decision to break with the Coalition after the catastrophic May 3 election, and said the move did deep damage to the party's reputation and image. CANBERRA, Australia - NewsWire Photos - November 5, 2024: Michael McCormack during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Mr Joyce said that he drummed up support for Mr McCormack in the Nationals post-election leadership contest and proclaimed he would vote for his former rival if he ever ran again for the top job. 'Was I making calls on Michael's behalf? Yes, I was,' Mr Joyce told The Australian. 'If someone said 'would you back Michael for leader? Yeah, I would. But am I going to move to create a change? No, I'm not.' He also said his relationship with Mr Littleproud had 'broken down'. When asked if he was vying for leadership, Mr McCormack said he was 'ambitious' for Mr Littleproud yet did not explicitly rule out running for the position. 'When a journo says, 'will you ever rule yourself out of ever (becoming leader)', of course you are not going to agree to that,' Mr McCormack said. Both former leaders also lashed out at the decision to dump them from the shadow ministry in a recent reshuffle and said they only found out about the call through the media. They said Mr Littleproud's justification of 'generational change' was both misleading and cover to force the two firebrands to retire from politics. The Member for New England further revealed that ex Liberal leader Peter Dutton had asked him to quit politics ahead of the election, and that the request prompted a furious reaction over the phone where Mr Joyce 'lost his mind'.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Labor to introduce student debt-slashing bill into parliament
Labor will on Wednesday introduce its signature student debt-slashing legislation on the first proper sitting day of the new parliament. The proposed relief, a key election policy, would cut HECS by 20 per cent for some 3 million graduates, or take about $5500 off the average student debt. Total savings would amount to $16bn, according to Labor. It would also raise the repayment threshold for student loans from $54,000 to $67,000. While Labor commands a massive 94-seat majority in the House of Representatives, the Senate is another matter. Camera Icon Labor is about to introduce its signature student debt-slashing bill. Martin Ollman / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia With the Greens holding the balance of power, they can effectively pump the brakes on key legislation – something members of the minor party have already said they would do to negotiate their own agenda. 'While every bit of student debt relief is good, what the government is doing by wiping some student debt doesn't even touch the sides of the issue,' Greens education spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi said on Tuesday. 'The core of the problem is indexation. 'Unless indexation is removed, students will be in this hamster wheel always chasing their debts, which keep getting bigger and bigger.' While Senator Faruqi said her party would push for amendments, NewsWire understands the government is confident the opposition will support it. Speaking to Sky News, Coalition education spokesman Jono Duniam said he also expected his side to back the bill. 'It was an issue, one of the centrepieces of the government's agenda at the last election and obviously we had a view that was not supported by Australians, so we'll work with them,' he said. 'We have our concerns, they remain. We'll talk about those, but I expect them to pass parliament.' More to come.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Labor to introduce student debt-slashing bill into parliament
Labor will on Wednesday introduce its signature student debt-slashing legislation on the first proper sitting day of the new parliament. The proposed relief, a key election policy, would cut HECS by 20 per cent for some 3 million graduates, or take about $5500 off the average student debt. Total savings would amount to $16bn, according to Labor. It would also raise the repayment threshold for student loans from $54,000 to $67,000. While Labor commands a massive 94-seat majority in the House of Representatives, the Senate is another matter. With the Greens holding the balance of power, they can effectively pump the brakes on key legislation – something members of the minor party have already said they would do to negotiate their own agenda. 'While every bit of student debt relief is good, what the government is doing by wiping some student debt doesn't even touch the sides of the issue,' Greens education spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi said on Tuesday. 'The core of the problem is indexation. 'Unless indexation is removed, students will be in this hamster wheel always chasing their debts, which keep getting bigger and bigger.' While Senator Faruqi said her party would push for amendments, NewsWire understands the government is confident the opposition will support it. Speaking to Sky News, Coalition education spokesman Jono Duniam said he also expected his side to back the bill. 'It was an issue, one of the centrepieces of the government's agenda at the last election and obviously we had a view that was not supported by Australians, so we'll work with them,' he said. 'We have our concerns, they remain. We'll talk about those, but I expect them to pass parliament.'
