'I'm shocked': The Project star Kate Langbroek stunned by one surprising detail about new Liberal leader Sussan Ley's past
The Project host Kate Langbroek couldn't resist a joke after discovering the unusual reason Susan Ley changed her name as a young woman.
Ley, 63, made history on Tuesday as the first woman to lead the federal Liberal Party and the most senior female in the party's 80-year existence.
The Project panellists weighed in on her appointment during Tuesday night's episode, with co-host Sarah Harris asking Langbroek: "Kate, polling showed that women just did not warm to Peter Dutton, so do you think Sussan Ley is the answer then?"
"I'm shocked," Langbroek replied.
"It's a very interesting thing, isn't it? I think whenever a woman gets a post like this, it's always like, 'Oh, here's the job that nobody else wanted'."
Co-host Waleed Aly contended that the leadership contest wasn't only about gender.
"While this will play as a gender thing, because it kind of is, it also plays as a philosophical thing," he said.
Langbroek responded cheekily, waving her hands in mock wizardry: "Do you know what means it is a gender thing? She's into numerology."
The panel and audience erupted with laughter, before Harris jumped in to explain that Ley had actually changed her name from Susan to Sussan as a teenager, prompting exclamations of surprise and incredulity from her co-stars.
The name change is a quirky detail the MP revealed herself in a 2015 interview with The Australian.
"I read about this numerology theory that if you add the numbers that match the letters in your name, you can change your personality," Ley said at the time.
"I worked out that if you added an 'S' I would have an incredibly exciting, interesting life and nothing would ever be boring. It's that simple."
The mother-of-three added that once the change was made, it was hard to reverse, so she stuck with it- even after her interest in numerology faded.
Comedian Sam Taunton chimed in with a pun: "Oh my god, it's a glass cliff with three S's on glass. That makes sense."
The segment then aired a highlight reel of Ley's moments in public life- from dressing up as Tina 'Ley-na' Turner in parliament, to missing netball shots, to being sprayed mid-interview by a rogue sprinkler.
"I've seen worse netball shots, by the way," Aly quipped.
Harris came to Ley's defence, noting her surprising background: "She might not be much of a netballer, but she was once a commercial airline pilot and traffic controller."
Indeed, Ley's resume is one of the most diverse in Australian federal politics.
Born in Nigeria in 1961 to a British intelligence officer, she spent her early years bouncing between continents, from the United Arab Emirates to boarding school in England, before her family eventually settled in Australia.
At 13, she arrived on a hobby farm in Toowoomba, Queensland, before the family relocated again, this time to Canberra.
Before entering parliament in 2001, Ley juggled motherhood on a rural property with an ambitious mix of jobs, including earning her pilot's licence, mustering stock from the air, working as an air traffic controller, and even cooking for shearing crews.
Ten years of study also saw her rise to a senior role at the Australian Taxation Office.
She has represented the rural NSW electorate of Farrer for more than two decades and held a string of senior roles, including Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and Shadow Minister for Women, Industry, Skills and Training, and Small and Family Business.
After narrowly defeating Angus Taylor in a party room ballot, Ley said she was "humbled, honoured, and up for the job".
Among those reacting to her promotion was former Liberal staffer and public advocate Brittany Higgins, who shared her thoughts via Instagram Stories.
"This is a pretty momentous day," Higgins wrote.
"Irrespective of your view on her politics and putting aside the 'glass cliff' conundrums- what a moment."
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