Latest news with #MakeAustraliaGreatAgain
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ley's first shadow ministry is on the mark. But now the hard work starts
Sussan Ley has finally stamped her authority on a much-diminished federal opposition, naming nine new members to her shadow cabinet and rewarding supporters and fellow moderates with roles on her frontbench. Ley had assistance from voters in clearing out some of the familiar faces – Peter Dutton, David Coleman, Michael Sukkar and Perrin Davey lost their seats in parliament – but she has not hesitated to go further. Ley and her team could find no space at the top table for former shadow cabinet members Jane Hume, conservative rising star Claire Chandler, former education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson – who has few allies in the party room – and Nationals turncoat Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who has been demoted to the outer shadow ministry. The appointment of Price to the outer ministry is particularly apposite as the Trump-friendly 'Make Australia Great Again' senator will be bound by shadow ministerial solidarity and unable to freelance outside her defence industry portfolio. Nationals leader David Littleproud has, as expected, ensured that his great rival and predecessor Barnaby Joyce was dumped, while Darren Chester returns to his former gig of veterans' affairs. The newly minted opposition leader had an extra week to consider how to assemble her frontbench team because of the quickie Coalition split. The cracks have been papered over for now but divisions are certain to re-emerge when parliament returns and debate resumes on the giant, unresolved net zero fault line that divides the Coalition. For the most part, Ley has made wise choices. Henderson made a lot of noise but achieved very little in the previous parliament. Hume, fairly or unfairly, is still wearing a decent chunk of the blame for the catastrophic end-work-from-home policy but she, along with Chandler, is likely to return to the frontbench in future. Loading The net result is two fewer women in the 23-member shadow cabinet, though this is offset by the Liberals finally promoting a woman to the leadership.
The Age
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Ley's first shadow ministry is on the mark. But now the hard work starts
Sussan Ley has finally stamped her authority on a much-diminished federal opposition, naming nine new members to her shadow cabinet and rewarding supporters and fellow moderates with roles on her frontbench. Ley had assistance from voters in clearing out some of the familiar faces – Peter Dutton, David Coleman, Michael Sukkar and Perrin Davey lost their seats in parliament – but she has not hesitated to go further. Ley and her team could find no space at the top table for former shadow cabinet members Jane Hume, conservative rising star Claire Chandler, former education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson – who has few allies in the party room – and Nationals turncoat Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who has been demoted to the outer shadow ministry. The appointment of Price to the outer ministry is particularly apposite as the Trump-friendly 'Make Australia Great Again' senator will be bound by shadow ministerial solidarity and unable to freelance outside her defence industry portfolio. Nationals leader David Littleproud has, as expected, ensured that his great rival and predecessor Barnaby Joyce was dumped, while Darren Chester returns to his former gig of veterans' affairs. The newly minted opposition leader had an extra week to consider how to assemble her frontbench team because of the quickie Coalition split. The cracks have been papered over for now but divisions are certain to re-emerge when parliament returns and debate resumes on the giant, unresolved net zero fault line that divides the Coalition. For the most part, Ley has made wise choices. Henderson made a lot of noise but achieved very little in the previous parliament. Hume, fairly or unfairly, is still wearing a decent chunk of the blame for the catastrophic end-work-from-home policy but she, along with Chandler, is likely to return to the frontbench in future. Loading The net result is two fewer women in the 23-member shadow cabinet, though this is offset by the Liberals finally promoting a woman to the leadership.
AU Financial Review
10-05-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price confirms deputy tilt as Taylor's running mate
High-profile conservative senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has confirmed one of politics' worst-kept secrets that she will run for deputy leader of the Liberal Party on a ticket with shadow treasurer Angus Taylor. Price defected from the Nationals party room last week to the Liberals, angering both her former country colleagues for disloyalty and Liberal moderates who fret that she will drag the Coalition further away from the centre ground. Price is a darling of the conservative movement, but during the election campaign raised eyebrows that she wanted to 'Make Australia Great Again', despite Peter Dutton's efforts to distance the Coalition from being tarred as resembling Donald Trump. Taylor, a conservative, is running against deputy leader Sussan Ley, who is being backed by the moderates, for the leadership of the shattered Liberal Party after its heavy election defeat. Price, a Northern Territory senator, issued a statement confirming she was backing Taylor and would seek the deputy leadership, saying she accepted the 'great responsibility' that role entailed. 'There is no question that returning to our roots as a party is critical right now,' Price said. 'If we want to inspire and empower Australians across our country, we must return to these roots – these basic values – that define who we are as a party. 'We must once more remember and fight for the forgotten people, those on whose shoulders Australian society has been built and still depends. These are the mainstream Australians who have a big contribution to make.' Price evoked her grandparents' experience as a political inspiration. 'I think of my grandparents, who were by no means the elite, building their first home by hand with hessian bags and washing their clothes in the creek in Warners Bay, NSW,' she said. 'But they saw a spark, a vision of a brighter future for generations to come. My Warlpiri grandparents caught the vision and transitioned from nomadic desert life into community life during the emergence of a modern Australia. 'They were the original Aussie battlers – the forgotten people. Their courage to grab hold of aspiration with both hands has paved the way for a desert kid like me to put my hand up to lead. 'Like my grandparents, I too see a spark. I see a brighter future for generations to come. I want others to see this future for themselves. That's what my candidacy for deputy leader is all about – a brighter future not just for the Liberal Party, but for all Australians.'
AU Financial Review
08-05-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Taylor vows Liberal rebuild after securing Price's defection
Angus Taylor has secured the defection of Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as part of his run for the leadership of the Liberal Party, which he vowed to rebuild by encouraging more robust internal policy debate and promoting fresh talent. But the recruitment of Price – a popular figure among conservatives who raised eyebrows when she pledged to 'Make Australia Great Again' and is expected to be Taylor's deputy – has outraged Liberal moderates, who say it will push the party even further to the right and fast-track its destruction.
Straits Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Australia's opposition grapples with Trump fallout after defeat
Now the fractured Labour Party joins conservative movements in Canada and the UK in trying to devise a path back to government. PHOTO: REUTERS CANBERRA – Australia's main centre-right opposition party is reeling from a landslide election defeat and grappling with an issue that has perplexed conservative movements across the world since 2016 – whether to embrace or distance itself from US President Donald Trump. Three former ministers in the Liberal party are fighting for its leadership following the defeat of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who not only lost the May 3 election but also his own seat. While the contest is expected to come to a head in the next week, there's no consensus over how to rebuild numbers and challenge Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's ascendant Labor Party. Less than 48 hours after the Liberal-National Coalition's second consecutive election defeat, one of the worst in Australian history, moderate Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg urged his party to recapture the centre ground of politics. 'It's important that we focus on economic issues and avoid culture wars at all costs,' Mr Bragg told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio while discussing the lessons of the election defeat. Yet just hours earlier, one of his fellow Liberal senators called on the party to 'Make Australia Great Again,' in a local version of Mr Trump's Maga motto. 'No one should have any backlash about that, that's a simple statement,' conservative Liberal Senator Alex Antic told Sky News. 'Why are they getting stuck into this slogan?' The opposition Liberal-National Coalition is expected to hold fewer than 50 seats in the 150-member Lower House of Parliament, its worst result since the Liberal party was founded in 1944. Now the fractured group joins conservative movements in Canada and the UK in trying to devise a path back to government. Three candidates are expected to stand for the leadership of the Liberals, the senior party in the centre-right Coalition. These are: Deputy Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley, a centrist and former Cabinet minister who is the favourite of the party's moderate wing but disliked by its conservative faction. Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, a former energy minister and a conservative who is likely to have the most support in the party room. However, some lawmakers hold him responsible for the election debacle, citing his failure to develop a credible alternative economic programme. Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan, former education minister who is relatively unknown in the wider community, making him a potential consensus candidate. Some former Liberal ministers attributed the heavy defeat to the party's perceived closeness to Mr Trump, who is widely disliked in Australia. This perception was fuelled, they say, by candidates using 'Make Australia Great Again' during the campaign as well as Maga-like policies on immigration, work-from-home and social issues. 'Donald Trump is toxic in Australian politics,' former Coalition Attorney-General George Brandis told ABC TV on the night of May 5. 'And he should be. Because he doesn't represent our values.' However, the Liberal party has lost more moderate-held inner-city seats in recent elections than conservative-held semi-rural districts, bolstering the latter's influence. In addition, the National Party, the junior partner in the Coalition, is generally more right-wing in its views than the Liberals. Not only do some members of the Liberal party want to see a move toward more Maga-style politics, one of its largest donors does as well. Billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart sent out a statement on May 5 blaming the media for 'frightening many in the Liberal Party from anything Trump and away from any Trump-like policies.' 'Why are Americans getting it, and we aren't?' she asked, in a statement distributed by her spokesperson. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
