NSW Liberal Leader Mark Speakman could face imminent leadership challenge as pressure mounts after passing net zero bill without opposition

Sky News AU

18 hours ago

Mark Speakman's Liberal leadership has been thrown into doubt after Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman shockingly resigned from shadow cabinet due to her party voting through a mammoth net zero bill without opposition.
Mr Speakman's leadership took a hit on Friday after Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman sensationally resigned from the shadow cabinet after she claimed her party had not adequately briefed members on an electricity infrastructure bill that would considerably expand the Energy Minister's ability to fast track renewable projects.
It was revealed that Labor had notified the opposition's energy spokesperson James Griffin about the legislation over a week ago, however the policy was not raised by Mr Griffin on Monday at a shadow cabinet meeting and was first flagged the day after, when the legislation was brought before the lower house.
Ms Tuckerman, the former shadow minister for local government, blasted her party's handling of the matter, and said 'I cannot overstate how let down I feel.'
As a result of the fiasco, there has been mounting speculation over the weekend within the NSW Liberal Party that Mr Speakman may be dumped as leader.
Ms Tuckerman is reportedly a supporter of member for Wahroonga and shadow attorney general Alister Henskens who is a member of the right faction.
Sky News understands that Mr Henskens is keen to take on the role of leader and may eventually launch a challenge against Mr Speakman.
It's unclear when the plotters will move to dump the embattled leader.
Despite Mr Speakman's prospective leadership opponents not yet having the numbers for a successful challenge, The Saturday Telegraph reported that Liberal MPs held cross-factional talks agreeing that any possible spill had to take place before the end of the year.
Sky News believes the moderates, who hold control of the NSW Liberal partyroom, may counter a potential push from the right by putting forward Kellie Sloan as a candidate for leader.
Mr Speakman hit out on Sunday and labelled the band of members who were discussing potential leadership tilts against him as "anonymous cowards".
'To the people of NSW – my focus is on you and your needs, not the rumour mill from a few anonymous cowards who should get out of the way,' Mr Speakman told The Daily Telegraph.
He warned his parliamentary team that he expected everyone to put in the 'hard yards' to hold the Minns government to account and echoed comments made this week by former NSW Liberal premier Nick Greiner that the party needed to "be bold".
'We were bold in government on infrastructure; we'll be bold on infrastructure again, while Labor lets the pipeline dry up,' he said.
Sky News understands there is a growing feeling in some sections of the NSW Liberal partyroom that Mr Speakman is not cutting through against Premier Chris Minns.
Speaking on Sky News' Outsiders program on Sunday, Ms Tuckerman said her move to resign from the shadow ministry was not in 'haste' and that she would not be "silenced" for her opposition to the roll out of renewable energy projects across the state.
'It is a big move, and it wasn't something that was done in haste, it was a concern over the bill that was before the house in regard to electricity infrastructure," Ms Tuckerman said.
'We learnt from the minister that that bill had been given to the shadow minister four or five days prior – I took great offence at that, I have been very vocal in the shadow cabinet about my concerns about how the road map is being handled.
'To not receive the opportunity to have a say on behalf of my community does not sit well with me and I will not be silenced for that."
Ms Tuckerman did not explicitly state if she viewed Mr Speakman's leadership as untenable and did not comment if she would be supporting a challenge against him.