Sussan Ley's press club address marks tone shift for Liberals

Australia Broadcast Center

4 days ago

Sussan Ley has set the tone for how she will seek to rebuild the Liberal Party, opening a major address to the National Press Club with an acknowledgement of country and a vow that she is someone who respects the public service.
The comments were nods to policies the Coalition took to a federal election that saw it wipe-out and nearly completely lose its footing in Australia's metro areas.
In her first address as leader to the press club, which was snubbed for several years by former leader Peter Dutton, Ms Ley spelled out that the Liberal Party would look different under her watch.
The Liberal leader acknowledged the party had not just lost, "we got smashed", and what had been presented to Australian voters was "comprehensively rejected".
The party is now reviewing its election loss, as well as undertaking a deeper review of its future, with one key issue being its falling representation of women in parliament and the ongoing internal struggle over whether to introduce quotas to forcibly lift it.
Ms Ley put her party on notice that she was "agnostic" about how to improve the party's representation of women, but a "zealot" in seeing that it happened, and would not accept state branches who did not improve.
"If some state divisions choose to implement quotas, that is fine. If others don't, that is also fine," she said.
"But what is not fine is not having enough women. As the first woman leader of our federal party, let me send the clearest possible message: We need to do better, recruit better, retain better and support better."
Over the next two days the Liberal party room, the shadow ministry and shadow cabinet will meet in their first formal opportunities to discuss those party reviews.
As part of the Coalition's reset, Ms Ley said a dedicated working group was also being stood up to nut out one of the thorniest issues for the party: its energy and emissions reduction policies.
The Coalition campaigned on a promise to build seven nuclear power plants over the coming decades, which would have been a major shift in Australia's energy network.
After its election loss, the Nationals briefly broke from the Liberal Party over an initial refusal to re-endorse nuclear power before it was examined by the Coalition's post-loss review.
And an ongoing internal struggle over climate policy continues to roil within the Coalition.
After former prime minister Scott Morrison finally negotiated an agreement with the Nationals to sign on to net zero emissions by 2050, the party is now again openly questioning whether to keep that commitment, with some Nationals MPs publicly advocating it be dumped.
Ms Ley said the working group would be led by opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan, and include Shadow Treasurer Ted O'Brien, opposition resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald, manager of opposition business Alex Hawke, opposition environment spokeswoman Angie Bell, and Dean Smith and Andrew Willcox.
That group will report directly to Ms Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud, tasked with developing a policy with two focuses: a "stable" and "affordable" energy grid and reducing emissions so Australia is playing its part in the global effort.
In a call for stability after only narrowly winning the Liberal leadership over challenger Angus Taylor, Ms Ley also asked the room of Liberals that she be judged not on the "headlines nor polling of the day", but on the next federal election result in 2028.
Recounting her personal story, Ms Ley noted her own history in the public service, tacitly acknowledging the party's unpopular promise at the election to slash the public service and force staff back to the office — a policy it dumped in an astonishing mid-campaign jettison after it was received poorly by voters.
"Before entering parliament, I worked at the Australian Tax Office. That role gave me a firsthand understanding of how our tax system works and, often, how it doesn't," Ms Ley said.
"It reinforced my view that economic management must be responsible, practical and always focused on delivering value to the taxpayer.
"It also reinforced something I learned as the child of an intelligence officer: a deep and abiding respect for the public service. That is part of my story too."
In another subtle nod, Ms Ley opened her address with an acknowledgement to traditional owners, marking a shift after Mr Dutton said during the election campaign he believed Indigenous acknowledgements were sometimes "overdone".
In the first press club address by a Liberal leader in several years, Ms Ley said voters' rejection of her party at the election was not lost on her or her colleagues.
"As we seek to regain trust with all voters across our great country, the task before me — and my team — is to lead a Liberal Party that respects modern Australia, reflects modern Australia and represents modern Australia," Ms Ley said.
While the party is continuing to rework its policies, Ms Ley did name a handful of priorities for this term.
The opposition leader insisted that Australia must further lift its defence spending as global instability erodes further.
The United States has demanded Australia lift its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, or about an extra $40 billion a year if enacted immediately, well beyond the government's current plan to lift defence spending from 2 per cent to 2.33 per cent over the next eight years.
Ms Ley said addressing family violence and child safety was another major concern for her this term.
"I understand the fear you feel when you go for a walk alone because I have felt that fear too. I understand the pain that comes with coercion and control because I have felt that pain too," Ms Ley said.
"I will never let domestic and family violence fall down the list of priorities.
"Prime minister, when it comes to standing up for women and children, I am ready to work with you."
The Liberal leader also pointed to tech giants she said were making billions of dollars "peddling addictive technology" to children, and artificial intelligence technologies that "commoditise our kids and deep fakes [that] ruin the lives of women".
Ms Ley concluded that the Coalition must offer an agenda that builds aspiration and rewards aspiration, and that reconnects with Australians.