Latest news with #Sussan
The Age
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘Straighten your tiara and let's get on with the job': Hume admits she took Ley dumping personally
Liberal senator Jane Hume has rebuked Opposition Leader Sussan Ley for demoting her to the backbench, saying it hurt professionally but she would now be free to speak her mind on television. The embattled senator spoke publicly for the first time about her shock demotion to breakfast television on Friday. The Coalition frontbench was unveiled earlier in the week, revealing Hume had been booted from her previous role in shadow finance. 'If you're asking me whether … I feel hurt or slighted by this move from Sussan, of course it hurts. It hurts professionally because I was a hard-working and prolific and high-profile member of the frontbench in the previous opposition,' Hume told Seven's Sunrise. 'It hurts personally, too, because you know, Sussan and I are friends … [however], this isn't the playground, this is the parliament. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference.' Hume's open frustration will test Ley's ability to manage disappointed party members who are no longer bound by shadow cabinet solidarity, following the open disappointment expressed by Nationals defector Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Sky News hours after she was sent to the outer ministry role of defence industry and personnel. Hume said she would now be free to speak her mind, and that would make for good television. 'There is something very liberating about being on the backbench and being able to speak without having to stick to the party line and without having to stick to talking points. That's certainly going to make for much more interesting Sunrise interviews. So, you're very lucky, I think,' Hume said to host Natalie Barr. Hume came under fire during the election campaign as the lead on the Coalition's policy ordering public servants back to the office full-time. Then-opposition leader Peter Dutton backfliped on the policy a little over a week into the campaign.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Straighten your tiara and let's get on with the job': Hume admits she took Ley dumping personally
Liberal senator Jane Hume has rebuked Opposition Leader Sussan Ley for demoting her to the backbench, saying it hurt professionally but she would now be free to speak her mind on television. The embattled senator spoke publicly for the first time about her shock demotion to breakfast television on Friday. The Coalition frontbench was unveiled earlier in the week, revealing Hume had been booted from her previous role in shadow finance. 'If you're asking me whether … I feel hurt or slighted by this move from Sussan, of course it hurts. It hurts professionally because I was a hard-working and prolific and high-profile member of the frontbench in the previous opposition,' Hume told Seven's Sunrise. 'It hurts personally, too, because you know, Sussan and I are friends … [however], this isn't the playground, this is the parliament. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference.' Hume's open frustration will test Ley's ability to manage disappointed party members who are no longer bound by shadow cabinet solidarity, following the open disappointment expressed by Nationals defector Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Sky News hours after she was sent to the outer ministry role of defence industry and personnel. Hume said she would now be free to speak her mind, and that would make for good television. 'There is something very liberating about being on the backbench and being able to speak without having to stick to the party line and without having to stick to talking points. That's certainly going to make for much more interesting Sunrise interviews. So, you're very lucky, I think,' Hume said to host Natalie Barr. Hume came under fire during the election campaign as the lead on the Coalition's policy ordering public servants back to the office full-time. Then-opposition leader Peter Dutton backfliped on the policy a little over a week into the campaign.
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'Straighten your tiara': Jane Hume breaks her silence over her demotion
The Liberals' former finance and public service spokeswoman, Jane Hume, has broken her silence over her controversial dumping from the Coalition frontbench by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Senator Hume told Seven's Sunrise that the loss of her portfolio "hurts professionally because I was a hard-working and prolific and high-profile member of the frontbench in the previous opposition." "If you're asking me whether I've been ... I feel hurt or slighted by this move from Sussan, of course, it hurts," she said. "It hurts personally, too - because, you know, Sussan and I are friends." But, the Victorian senator said: "This isn't the playground. This is the Parliament. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference." She made the comments after being asked if her demotion was "payback" for her role in announcing and advocating for the Coalition's short-lived work-from-home policy during the election campaign. Former opposition leader Peter Dutton retracted the policy to force public servants back to the office full time after a public backlash, particularly from private sector women who feared it would be expanded to deprive them of workplace flexibility. Senator Hume said her demotion would afford her more freedom to speak her mind. "There is something very liberating about being on the backbench and being able to speak without having to stick to the party line and without having to stick to talking points," she said. "I will continue to do that every day from whatever position I am in," she said, calling on all members of the Opposition to "get behind Sussan Ley, put our shoulders to the wheel." "There's a very big task ahead of us. Not only to win back the hearts and minds and votes of Australians, but also to hold this terrible government to account," Senator Hume said. "That's exactly what I am going to be doing every day, and every single one of my colleagues are going to be doing every day. "As my very wise mother would say, 'Stop your nonsense, chin up, chest out, straighten your tiara and let's get on with the job'." The Liberals' former finance and public service spokeswoman, Jane Hume, has broken her silence over her controversial dumping from the Coalition frontbench by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Senator Hume told Seven's Sunrise that the loss of her portfolio "hurts professionally because I was a hard-working and prolific and high-profile member of the frontbench in the previous opposition." "If you're asking me whether I've been ... I feel hurt or slighted by this move from Sussan, of course, it hurts," she said. "It hurts personally, too - because, you know, Sussan and I are friends." But, the Victorian senator said: "This isn't the playground. This is the Parliament. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference." She made the comments after being asked if her demotion was "payback" for her role in announcing and advocating for the Coalition's short-lived work-from-home policy during the election campaign. Former opposition leader Peter Dutton retracted the policy to force public servants back to the office full time after a public backlash, particularly from private sector women who feared it would be expanded to deprive them of workplace flexibility. Senator Hume said her demotion would afford her more freedom to speak her mind. "There is something very liberating about being on the backbench and being able to speak without having to stick to the party line and without having to stick to talking points," she said. "I will continue to do that every day from whatever position I am in," she said, calling on all members of the Opposition to "get behind Sussan Ley, put our shoulders to the wheel." "There's a very big task ahead of us. Not only to win back the hearts and minds and votes of Australians, but also to hold this terrible government to account," Senator Hume said. "That's exactly what I am going to be doing every day, and every single one of my colleagues are going to be doing every day. "As my very wise mother would say, 'Stop your nonsense, chin up, chest out, straighten your tiara and let's get on with the job'." The Liberals' former finance and public service spokeswoman, Jane Hume, has broken her silence over her controversial dumping from the Coalition frontbench by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Senator Hume told Seven's Sunrise that the loss of her portfolio "hurts professionally because I was a hard-working and prolific and high-profile member of the frontbench in the previous opposition." "If you're asking me whether I've been ... I feel hurt or slighted by this move from Sussan, of course, it hurts," she said. "It hurts personally, too - because, you know, Sussan and I are friends." But, the Victorian senator said: "This isn't the playground. This is the Parliament. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference." She made the comments after being asked if her demotion was "payback" for her role in announcing and advocating for the Coalition's short-lived work-from-home policy during the election campaign. Former opposition leader Peter Dutton retracted the policy to force public servants back to the office full time after a public backlash, particularly from private sector women who feared it would be expanded to deprive them of workplace flexibility. Senator Hume said her demotion would afford her more freedom to speak her mind. "There is something very liberating about being on the backbench and being able to speak without having to stick to the party line and without having to stick to talking points," she said. "I will continue to do that every day from whatever position I am in," she said, calling on all members of the Opposition to "get behind Sussan Ley, put our shoulders to the wheel." "There's a very big task ahead of us. Not only to win back the hearts and minds and votes of Australians, but also to hold this terrible government to account," Senator Hume said. "That's exactly what I am going to be doing every day, and every single one of my colleagues are going to be doing every day. "As my very wise mother would say, 'Stop your nonsense, chin up, chest out, straighten your tiara and let's get on with the job'." The Liberals' former finance and public service spokeswoman, Jane Hume, has broken her silence over her controversial dumping from the Coalition frontbench by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Senator Hume told Seven's Sunrise that the loss of her portfolio "hurts professionally because I was a hard-working and prolific and high-profile member of the frontbench in the previous opposition." "If you're asking me whether I've been ... I feel hurt or slighted by this move from Sussan, of course, it hurts," she said. "It hurts personally, too - because, you know, Sussan and I are friends." But, the Victorian senator said: "This isn't the playground. This is the Parliament. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a difference." She made the comments after being asked if her demotion was "payback" for her role in announcing and advocating for the Coalition's short-lived work-from-home policy during the election campaign. Former opposition leader Peter Dutton retracted the policy to force public servants back to the office full time after a public backlash, particularly from private sector women who feared it would be expanded to deprive them of workplace flexibility. Senator Hume said her demotion would afford her more freedom to speak her mind. "There is something very liberating about being on the backbench and being able to speak without having to stick to the party line and without having to stick to talking points," she said. "I will continue to do that every day from whatever position I am in," she said, calling on all members of the Opposition to "get behind Sussan Ley, put our shoulders to the wheel." "There's a very big task ahead of us. Not only to win back the hearts and minds and votes of Australians, but also to hold this terrible government to account," Senator Hume said. "That's exactly what I am going to be doing every day, and every single one of my colleagues are going to be doing every day. "As my very wise mother would say, 'Stop your nonsense, chin up, chest out, straighten your tiara and let's get on with the job'."
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Coalition's climate splits echo Labor's dragging divisions over refugee policy
The fast-paced drama of recrimination, estrangement and reconciliation between the National Party and the Liberal Party over the last fortnight has generated two phenomena. First: a serious degree of brand confusion with the 2025 series of Farmer Wants A Wife. (A series recap: David has told Sussan he can't be with someone who won't let him keep his collection of fantasy nuclear reactors. Sussan isn't bothered — she needs space to find herself anyway and is suspicious that David won't honour the solemn covenant of shadow cabinet faithfulness. It's OVER! Gasp! Everyone heads to IKEA to buy separate flat-pack shadow cabinets, the Liberals drawn immediately to the fun energy of the KLUSTERFÖK line, while the Nats opt for the more transportable DUMMISPIT, with optional display shelving and beer holders. But wait! Barnaby and Michael — who loathe each other a lot, but not as much as they jointly loathe David — have gone behind David's back and talked to Sussan! Maybe divorce is too expensive? Isn't it stupid to have two cabinets? David says gruffly that of course he'll respect shadow cabinet solidarity. Sussan says maybe the reactors can go in the shed for now. So she's back to making up spare beds for injured egos in the marital home. So many plot twists! Including that for the first time in forever, a Liberal leader is providing a deeply relatable moment for Australian women. Though not, admittedly, for great reasons.) These are eye-catching personal dramas, to be sure. But they obscure the larger and deeper fissure that yawns unbridgeable-y beneath the bickering parties. Which is all about policy, and not about personality quite as much as would appear. "There won't be a climate war," declared Sussan Ley at her first press conference as the first woman to lead the Liberal Party. "There will be sound and sensible consultation and I undertake 100 per cent to do that." But the truth is, there is still a climate war. Not just between the Nationals and the Liberals but within the Liberals, too. This war has been going on for the entire 21st century. It's bubbled along under multiple public protestations to the contrary, and it's never quite been extinguished despite serial ceasefire agreements, some of which were confusing to those watching from home. A reminder: it was John Howard's first environment minister, Robert Hill, who negotiated an advantageous deal for Australia at the Kyoto climate summit in 1997. It was Howard in his third term who then decided not to ratify Kyoto after all. But it was Howard again — in his final term — who developed an emissions trading scheme and took it to the 2007 election. Tony Abbott (despite having described climate change as "crap") signed up to significant emissions reductions under the Paris Agreement in 2015, only to repent in 2019. In late 2021, Scott Morrison — flanked by then energy minister Angus Taylor — announced a plan for Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Liberal leader Peter Dutton embraced a nuclear future so as to achieve net zero, a tactical Venn diagram whose crucial middle zone turned out to host not very many people at all. Like a colicky cat, the Liberal Party has curled itself into countless different climate change positions over the last 30 years, trying to find a comfortable one. But it hasn't worked. Why? Because incurring economic pain and harm for Australia — in the attempted resolution of a global problem — is incredibly controversial. For all the other benefits of a decarbonised economy and the opportunities for Australia that are afforded by new green industries and our natural resources beyond fossil fuels, the fact remains that our efforts won't make much of a difference to global temperatures unless the world moves with us. But if we all wait and see, of course, then it'll be too late for everyone. For the National Party, representing regional Australia, there are added complexities. Their constituents are on the front line of the changing climate — hotter temperatures, disappearing species, drier summers, more intense weather events. But they also experience greater disruption from a supercharged renewable energy rollout, which for Sydneysiders might involve installing rooftop solar or buying an EV, but for regional Australians is more likely to mean even more changes to their physical environment — the efflorescence of wind farms across the landscape, banks of solar panels, the ugly truss of transmission lines across tracts of land that once felt open. These are not trifling matters. How does the Liberal Party — the senior Coalition partner in a collaboration that has lasted 102 years — cogently and ably represent these diametrically-opposed constituencies? It's too late to be speculating on whether the Liberal Party will split. It already has. The shape of the Liberal Party is still clearly traceable across the House of Representatives benches. It's just that a clutch of those seats are now held by climate independents, whose campaigns in 2022 derived additional power from the Morrison government's high-handedness to women. Labor, having long ago picked a lane on both climate policy and representation of women, might take this opportunity for smugness. But it's not all that long since Labor had its own dragging, painful, exhausting split over an issue on which its opponents were jubilantly united. For the first decade of this century, Labor ripped itself apart over immigration and refugee policy, specifically the question of how it should respond to the Howard government's hardline commitment to mandatory detention and offshore processing of refugees. There are similarities between this issue — an existential one for Labor in both opposition and government — and the Liberal Party's ongoing climate dilemma, even though they land in different portfolio areas. Mandatory detention was Labor's invention originally (the Keating government introduced it in 1992, per immigration minister Gerry Hand), just as it was Howard who first agreed in principle to commit Australia to the task of carbon reduction at Kyoto. Just as the Liberal Party has tossed and turned on climate, Labor undertook multiple reversals as it grappled with refugee policy after the "Tampa election" of 2001. Kevin Rudd wound back the Howard government's border regime in his first stint as prime minister, only to be removed by Julia Gillard who moved to reintroduce offshore processing, and then was herself replaced by Rudd Mk II, who cemented the reversal amid a confronting flotilla of boat arrivals. Labor's rank and file harboured a commitment to the humane treatment of refugees every bit as passionate as the belief among the Liberal base that renewables are folly and that phasing-out fossil fuels is an act of national economic self-harm. The blunt force of electoral experience suggests both sets of believers were out of step with mainstream Australian opinion: Australians have voted as firmly in favour of border protection as they have for action on climate change. And both issues are reducible to the same essential human conundrum, the same pulsing kernel. What do those of us who live a lucky life on this great island owe to those who don't? How much should we inconvenience ourselves, to what extent should we disadvantage ourselves, to fix a problem that is not of our own making? The Labor Party's internal division on refugee policy was more or less quelled by its experience in government. Drownings at sea — and the horror of desperate humans embarking upon unreliable vessels captained by mercenaries — drove Labor back towards the Coalition's position, bilaterally hardening the nation's heart. Labor voters who couldn't stomach it, one assumes, defected to the Greens, whose primary vote more than doubled from 5 per cent to nearly 12 per cent as Labor wrestled with its moral dilemma between the 2001 and 2010 federal elections. But Greens voters — notwithstanding their history of disappointment or annoyance with Labor — overwhelmingly put Labor above the Coalition when they allocate their preferences in the privacy of the voting booth. That's how Labor managed, this month, a truly mind-bending feat: nearly two-thirds of the House of Representatives, off just one-third of the primary vote. The left flank of Australian politics is holding together. The same can't be said, at present, for the right flank. This can be confirmed with a casual glance at the spreading riot of colours overwhelming the previous blue of opposition benches in the Australian Electoral Commission's near-complete portrait of the 48th Parliament: Liberals, Nationals, LNP, the CLP, Katter's Australia Party, Teals, Centre Alliance and so on. In this election, for the first time, the Coalition didn't come first or second in the primary vote count. It came third, after "Anybody else". The Coalition: another victim of climate change.
News.com.au
26-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Toorak's $50m Besen estate quietly sold off in one of 2025's biggest deals
One of Australia's richest families has just pulled off a $50m power move, selling the late Toorak mansion of the late Marc and Eva Besen. The sprawling Lansell Rd estate has changed hands in an off-market deal tipped to be one of Melbourne's biggest residential transactions of 2025. Property documents confirm the Besen's four adult children, billionaire Daniel Besen, Sussan boss Naomi Milgrom, philanthropist Carol Schwartz and Besen Family Foundation chief executive Deborah Dadon owned the property. Private slice of country paradise up for grabs A well-placed source said the residence was a longstanding family base, steeped in private gatherings, philanthropic vision and commercial strategy although the buyer's identity remains a closely-guarded secret. 'In Toorak, this is as close as it gets to royalty changing address,' the source said. 'The Besens helped shape Melbourne through fashion, retail and philanthropy, selling the family home quietly like this is the end of a major chapter.' Holocaust survivor Marc Besen, who passed away in 2023 aged 99, rose from wartime displacement to become a titan of Australian retail, steering the growth of Sussan with his brother-in-law John Gandel. The pair later expanded into Suzanne Grae and Sportsgirl, while also snapping up Melbourne shopping centres like Highpoint, and Box Hill Central (formerly Whitehorse Plaza). The family's final stake in Highpoint was sold to The GPT Group for $680m in 2017. Dr and Mrs Besen legacy was also defined by their philanthropy, donating of tens of millions to institutions including the NGV, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, the Australian Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Mount Scopus College, where the Besen Family Performing Arts Centre in Burwood still bears their name. Prestige agents, Kay & Burton Stonnington's Ross Savas and Nick Kenyon were widely tipped to have handled the transaction. Both declined to comment. Industry Insider Property Toorak director Andrew Date, a prestige buyers agent, said the deal followed a familiar script for Toorak's ultra-prestige market. 'Off-market sales like this are all about discretion,' Mr Date said. 'Once you're operating in the $20m to $100m space, it's not about open homes, it's about legacy, trust and relationships. 'These families don't want media, they want privacy and control.' The $50m sale is Melbourne's second-priciest residential deal of the year, behind only the $100m-plus acquisition of 'Coonac', the neighbouring Clendon Rd mansion formerly owned by Toll boss Paul Little and wife Jane Hansen, now in the hands of pharmaceutical magnate Dennis Bastas.
