Latest news with #EvelynManfield
ABC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Libs agree 'in principle' to Nats demands
Samantha Donovan: There's been another development in the rift between the federal Liberal and National parties this afternoon. In an online meeting, the Liberals have agreed in principle to four key policy demands from the Nationals. That breakthrough could clear the way for a new coalition agreement between the two sides. ABC political reporter Evelyn Manfield is in Parliament House in Canberra. Evelyn, what can you tell us about what happened in this meeting? Evelyn Manfield: Sam, the Liberal Party has agreed in principle to the four key policy demands from the Nationals. This is of course part of an effort to bring the coalition back together after what's been a very dramatic week that's played out very publicly, not just here in Canberra, but right across television screens across the country. So the four key policy demands that they've agreed to in principle are this idea to lift the moratorium on nuclear power, divestiture powers to be able to break up the big supermarkets if they abuse their market power, a major regional fund to help with things like infrastructure, and then universal phone coverage and access right across the regions. So what's happened is Susan Lee has gone back to her party today. They've given that support. What triggered this of course was yesterday the Nationals leader David Littleproud insisting that the Nationals would provide solidarity in terms of the shadow cabinet, which is what Sussan Ley had been really wanting that sort of solid agreement on. Samantha Donovan: I haven't seen any formal announcements about the outcome of this meeting and it's been a national online hook-up. Do you know if any of the four policy issues are proving more difficult for the Liberals to back? Evelyn Manfield: Yeah, we certainly haven't seen anyone stand up and speak or anything like that, as you say. But look, what we are hearing from at least one source so far is that there are still negotiations to go. So they've reached this in principle agreement, but particularly around supermarket divestiture powers and the $20 billion regional future fund, there is still more to be discussed. The future fund is really interesting because we were actually hearing from former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning on an ABC podcast. He was raising concerns about the expense of $20 billion. He's saying, you know, when we would end up back in government or in three years time, you just don't know what sort of position the budget's going to be in. Also worth mentioning, nuclear, as I mentioned before, we understand the commitment now is to lift the moratorium on nuclear power. So very different than what was promised during the election, which of course was to build seven publicly funded power plants. Samantha Donovan: So a bit of work still to be done. What happens now in terms of talks between the two sides to resume the coalition partnership? Evelyn Manfield: So Sussan Ley, the Liberal leader, will go back to her Nationals counterpart, David Littleproud. They will have further discussions. But this is certainly a step forward towards trying to get the coalition back together. And as you said, the demands from the Nationals in terms of those four key policies have now be met in principle and the Liberals are happy that they've got that agreement around shadow cabinet solidarity. Samantha Donovan: And has there been any reaction to the Liberal Party's decision yet to back those four policies, at least in principle? Evelyn Manfield: Pretty limited reaction so far. We have had Nationals Senator Matt Canavan post on social media calling it a back down from the Liberals and saying well done to his leader, David Littleproud. We have also heard from Michael McCormack, who's just spoken to the ABC, of course, a former Nationals leader as well, but still current MP. Michael McCormack: The opposition should be should be very much for those four policy areas. But we're also not in government. So you can't really enact the sorts of things that you'd like to from opposition. So what we need to do is we need to be united. We need to be strong. We need to have good policies out there to restore the faith of people that they obviously didn't have on May 3rd. Samantha Donovan: Michael McCormack is the former leader of the National Party, and I was speaking to ABC political reporter Evelyn Manfield in Parliament House in Canberra.
ABC News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Federal politics live: Arthur Sinodinos says Liberals will not win government with culture wars alone
Former Liberal minister Arthur Sinodinos says the state of his party is dire but not terminal as recriminations over the Coalition's landslide election loss continue. Former Liberal finance minister Simon Birmingham says the party needs to consider gender quotas to increase the Coalition's number of women in parliament. Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie yesterday confirmed he would not be a candidate in the party's leadership ballot, leaving Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor the favourite in a field that also includes deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan. Follow our live blog below. Submit a comment or question Log in to comment Live updates Latest Oldest 3m ago Mon 5 May 2025 at 9:08pm Liberal MP blames poor communication for party's loss E By Evelyn Manfield Liberal member for Durack in WA, Melissa Price , who was one of the few Liberals to have a swing towards her, says poor communication was a key reason for her party's election failure. "For example, if you put our housing policy up against Labor's policy … I would say ours was a better policy, but if you are unable to communicate that message to people who you want to hear your message, then you're failing," she says. Price also points to an unsuccessful social media campaign. "People that I've spoken to since the election or leading up to the election, people under the age of 40 … when they've given me their opinion, they've said that they didn't think our social media was cutting through and, you know, that's a big problem," she says. She says the result had nothing to do with the quality of the candidates, but is unwilling to blame former leader Peter Dutton either. React React 4m ago Mon 5 May 2025 at 9:07pm Calls to consider gender quotas in the Liberal Party E By Evelyn Manfield Liberal senator Maria Kovacic says the party must also look at implementing It's a sentiment former senator Simon Birmingham supported in a lengthy LinkedIn post, where he said "With parliamentary representation now at an all-time low, such quotas could and should be hard, fast and ambitious," he wrote. Despite the number of women in the lower house set to reach a record high, Four Liberal women have so far secured seats, with another five in doubt. In 2022, nine Liberal women won seats. Kovacic also addressed some of the commentary from former leader Peter Dutton during the campaign about Welcome to Country ceremonies being overused and a "woke" school curriculum. She said the discussions were "unnecessary" and not what voters were talking about. React React 7m ago Mon 5 May 2025 at 9:04pm Liberal senator says party must move to the centre E By Evelyn Manfield Liberal politicians, past and present, are calling for the party to return to the centre and consider quotas to boost the number of women in their ranks, after Saturday's federal election defeat. Liberal senator Maria Kovacic said the party failed to address the key issues of housing and cost of living and offer solutions to "properly fix that". She warned Saturday's "brutal" loss needed to be a catalyst for change. "We need to move back to the centre," she says. "It is very, very clear that the Australian public…were not happy with the way that we were conducting ourselves as a potential government. "They didn't like what we did, so they did not elect us on Saturday, they sent us a very clear message. "We must move to the centre — we have no choice, that's where we belong." React React 11m ago Mon 5 May 2025 at 9:00pm Good morning 👋 J By Joshua Boscaini Hi everyone and thanks for joining me for another day of federal politics live. The Liberal Party is continuing to pick apart the results of Saturday's election, which saw Labor return to power with an increased majority. It's also on the search for a new leader. The race has narrowed to Angus Taylor , Sussan Ley and Dan Tehan after Andrew Hastie pulled out of the race yesterday afternoon. I'm Josh Boscaini. Join me as I take you through today's developments in politics. React React
