BREAKING NEWS Dramatic moment ABC host interrupts her segment to reveal a scathing note from Sussan Ley as Coalition women go to war

Daily Mail​

21-05-2025

The bitter Coalition split erupted live on national television, with tensions boiling over as Liberal leader Sussan Ley's team dramatically texted into the ABC studio to publicly contradict Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie during her appearance on 7.30.
In a fiery interview with journalist Sarah Ferguson, McKenzie claimed the sole reason for the rupture was Ley's refusal to guarantee four key policy ultimatums - a move she said left the Nationals no choice but to walk.
The party had requested the Coalition maintain policies on supermarket divestiture powers, regional phone coverage, nuclear energy, and the Regional Australia Future Fund.
'Sussan Ley could not give our party room the guarantee we sought,' Senator McKenzie said.
'She couldn't give that guarantee to us. She refused to. She put it in writing.
'We put that to our party room, and our party room decided we were to leave the coalition.'
McKenzie strongly denied that the fallout was over the National's desire for their shadow cabinet members to be free from obeying the rules of sticking to overall Coalition cabinet decisions.
'I can tell you, because I was in the National party room that made this decision, the decision that was then conveyed to the Liberal leader. And that was not part of our consideration … it was solely on those four policies,' she said.
But while Senator McKenzie was on air, the team of Liberals leader Sussan Ley was texting into the studio, refuting the claims.
'It is not correct to suggest shadow cabinet solidarity was not a sticking point,' the text said.
'We have it in writing that it was a requirement from their leader's office to ours.'
Ley's office texted again to add: '(McKenzie's) language was deliberate to make it sound like it was just about the policies. That is just not correct.'
When the texts were put to McKenzie, she told ABC in a statement that she stood by her comments.
'The claims made above were not the basis of the Nationals party room decision not to form a Coalition at this time,' she said.
Viewers who witnessed the tense interview and Ferguson reading out the text declared it was 'all out war now' on social media.
'Factional bloodsport dressed up as leadership,' one user said.
Another commented: 'They ain't getting back together anytime soon and I don't think therapy with Howard or Abbott will bring a union either.'
Tension had been growing between the two former Coalition partners since the Labor's federal election landslide on May 3.
Division was only made worse when Senator Jacinta Price defected from the Nationals to sit with the Liberal party to run in a joint-ticket for leadership with Angus Taylor.
After the former shadow treasurer was defeated, Price withdrew her hat from the ring.
The Coalition has only split three times in the last 100 years.
The last time was in 1987 over the 'Joh for Canberra' campaign, which pushed for Queensland National Party premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen to become Prime Minister.
Then, the two parties split for a matter of months before the rift healed after the 1987 federal election.