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Sussan Ley has defended the former Liberal senator who claimed internal opponents have been undermining the opposition leader since she won the position in a party ballot in May.
Ley did not contradict Hollie Hughes’ claims of sabotage from within when asked, and instead spoke fondly of the former senator, who on Tuesday told 2GB she quit the party in protest over Ley’s treatment.
“Hollie is a dear friend, I’ve known her for 25 years. We were passionate, rural liberals. We still are, and the work that she’s done in children, in families and for communities – we’ll miss her in the parliament,” Ley told Today.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is on her second media blitz of the week. Credit: Edwina Pickles
Hughes on Tuesday told this masthead: “It’s clear that Sussan has been undermined from day one. And the people who are doing it are the people I spent six years in the party room with. I want the freedom to be able to speak about their capacity, or lack thereof, without being restricted by party rules.”
Host Karl Stefanovic asked Ley whether it was true, as Hughes claimed, that Ley’s leadership rivals Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor weren’t across their briefs.
“I’m going to leave the commentary to others. Her statement clearly speaks to the warmth of our friendship, but she can make her comments, and others will, and you will ask the questions and commentators will reflect,” Ley said, before getting back on message about power prices. She later told Radio National that Hughes still offered a lot of wisdom and her statement “speaks to the warmth of that friendship”.
Hughes on Tuesday night launched an attack on a slew of Ley’s colleagues, including leadership aspirants Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie.
“I think we all know who’s undermining her and I think all you’ve got to do is look at that big right-wing block that wandered down the corridor together as they push the women up the front,” she told 2GB Radio.
“Quite frankly, Jacinta [Nampijinpa Price] and Sarah [Henderson], I think, are being used by the two men who want to push forward with a challenge, but don’t have the gumption to do it.”
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As Ley continued her second media blitz this week to spruik her energy policy – with 10 scheduled appearances across TV and radio on Wednesday – South Australian Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan vowed to continue promoting net zero even after his party scrapped the target entirely.
Asked on the Conversation podcast if Ley could sell the new policy to the electorate, McLachlan said he was “dubious. Modern Australia wants a strong commitment to not only restoring nature, but protecting it, and that includes reducing emissions”.
Describing the policy endorsed by both parties of the Coalition as “carefree with emissions,” McLachlan rejected the inclusion of coal in the mix.
“I don’t believe that coal should be in the medium to long term a part of the equation. And I think that we need to stay on the road to a renewables future. Now I’m not naive. We are in transition, and it will be in fits and starts, and I think that gas is a transition fuel, but our ambition for our country should be to retreat from fossil fuels as soon as we can, without leaving anyone in poverty.“
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