Sussan Ley to hero 'aspirational Australians' in first NPC address as Liberal Leader
Sussan Ley is set to outline how the Liberal Party intends to 'rebuild trust' with Australian voters after admitting the party was 'smashed' on the May 3 federal poll, stating her 'focus' will be on 'aspirational Australians'.
After the party was reduced to a mere 43 seats, the Opposition Leader is set to use Wednesday's National Press Club address to acknowledge the party's abysmal performance, stating that: 'We didn't just lose. We got smashed'.
Notably, Ms Ley's attendance at the Canberra institution also bucks the trend set by her predecessor Peter Dutton, who was criticised by Anthony Albanese for snubbing the tradition.
While Ms Ley's speech won't detail any firm policy commitments, with the party still undertaking an election post-mortem, she is expected to comment on the party's new approach to policy and outline priority areas she aims to focus on in the next three years.
She will also outline her plan to rebuild the Liberal Party into a 'effective alternative' before the next election, Ms Ley will say that the new-look party will restore living standards and reward 'aspirational Australians'.
She will also identify the cost-of-living crisis, stagnant wages and the barriers to home ownership as key barriers to success.
'Aspiration is the foundation of the Australian promise: that if you work hard, play by the rules, do your best for your kids and contribute to your community, you will be able to build a better life for yourself and your family,' she said.
'That promise feels distant for many Australians today.'
Ms Ley is also set to define her vision of 'modern Australia' in an attempt to win back key groups alienated by the Liberal Party in May.
This includes women, young voters and people in metro areas, with the party progressively losing its hold in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and completely wiped out in Adelaide.
Instead, Ms Ley will describe Modern Australia as 'diverse, dynamic and ambitious,' and 'made up of people from every corner of the world'.
Her comments will also indicate that the Liberals will make a concerted effort to appeal to 'families raising children in the suburbs,' plus young people entering the workforce, renters, students and older Australians 'who helped build this country'.
'Modern Australia is not just one story. It's all of them,' she is expected to say.
'And our party must be big enough to represent that shared experience.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
It's time, Sussan Ley: What Gough Whitlam can teach her about saving a lost party
In 1967, Gough Whitlam was in a strikingly similar position to Sussan Ley today. The newly installed Labor leader was little known to the public. He bore no resemblance to his unpopular predecessor. His objective was to modernise a party that had lost touch with modern Australia. illo from Joe Benke Whitlam came to the leadership after Labor had suffered a devastating electoral rout in 1966 – a massive landslide to Harold Holt's coalition, in which the number of Labor MPs was reduced to half those of the government: almost exactly the same ratio as the opposition today. When Sussan Ley gave her first big speech as opposition leader last Wednesday, Gough Whitlam was probably the furthest thing from her mind. Her speech was as un-Whitlamesque as it is possible to be: humble, self-critical, even apologetic. Frankly acknowledging that 'what we as the Liberal Party presented to the Australian people was comprehensively rejected', Ley went on to say: 'We respect the election outcome with humility. We accept it with contrition.' I doubt we've ever heard such honest self-appraisal from an Australian political leader. Yet, to draw a line under the worst defeat in the Liberal Party's history, that was precisely what the occasion demanded, and Ley hit the mark. It tells you just how far the party had drifted from the political mainstream that the very fact the speech took place at the National Press Club – second only to parliament as the customary venue for important political addresses – was itself a story. By returning to a rostrum boycotted by her predecessor, the new leader sent an unmistakable message: we're no longer in the echo chamber; the Liberal Party is back in the game. Ley used the speech to sketch a path forward for internal reform and future policy development. One of the most important issues she dealt with was the party's future approach to emissions reduction. She announced the establishment of a working group on 'energy and emissions reduction' policy. Led by Dan Tehan – one of the Coalition's most capable politicians, who was the only frontbencher to claim a ministerial scalp in the last parliament – it is tasked with developing policies that ensure a stable energy grid to provide affordable and reliable power, while reducing emissions 'so that we are playing our part in the global effort'. Ley did not specifically mention the 2050 net zero emissions target, which has been Coalition policy since 2021, although her carefully chosen language suggested no appetite to abandon it.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
It's time, Sussan Ley: What Gough Whitlam can teach her about saving a lost party
In 1967, Gough Whitlam was in a strikingly similar position to Sussan Ley today. The newly installed Labor leader was little known to the public. He bore no resemblance to his unpopular predecessor. His objective was to modernise a party that had lost touch with modern Australia. illo from Joe Benke Whitlam came to the leadership after Labor had suffered a devastating electoral rout in 1966 – a massive landslide to Harold Holt's coalition, in which the number of Labor MPs was reduced to half those of the government: almost exactly the same ratio as the opposition today. When Sussan Ley gave her first big speech as opposition leader last Wednesday, Gough Whitlam was probably the furthest thing from her mind. Her speech was as un-Whitlamesque as it is possible to be: humble, self-critical, even apologetic. Frankly acknowledging that 'what we as the Liberal Party presented to the Australian people was comprehensively rejected', Ley went on to say: 'We respect the election outcome with humility. We accept it with contrition.' I doubt we've ever heard such honest self-appraisal from an Australian political leader. Yet, to draw a line under the worst defeat in the Liberal Party's history, that was precisely what the occasion demanded, and Ley hit the mark. It tells you just how far the party had drifted from the political mainstream that the very fact the speech took place at the National Press Club – second only to parliament as the customary venue for important political addresses – was itself a story. By returning to a rostrum boycotted by her predecessor, the new leader sent an unmistakable message: we're no longer in the echo chamber; the Liberal Party is back in the game. Ley used the speech to sketch a path forward for internal reform and future policy development. One of the most important issues she dealt with was the party's future approach to emissions reduction. She announced the establishment of a working group on 'energy and emissions reduction' policy. Led by Dan Tehan – one of the Coalition's most capable politicians, who was the only frontbencher to claim a ministerial scalp in the last parliament – it is tasked with developing policies that ensure a stable energy grid to provide affordable and reliable power, while reducing emissions 'so that we are playing our part in the global effort'. Ley did not specifically mention the 2050 net zero emissions target, which has been Coalition policy since 2021, although her carefully chosen language suggested no appetite to abandon it.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Lift defence spend to show China that Australia means business: Abbott
Australia needs to lift its defence spending so it can be a better ally while pushing back against military actions from China, former prime minister Tony Abbott has urged while expressing hope the economic giant may become the world's most benign superpower. In an address last week to the Australia China Economics Trade and Culture Association, Abbott, who signed the free trade agreement between the two nations just months before losing the prime ministership in 2015, also urged continuing financial links between the countries while cautioning Australia had to broaden its dependence on China. The Albanese government is under pressure from US President Donald Trump to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP. Such a sharp lift in spending would cost the budget more than $200 billion by 2035-36. Abbott said Australia had to 'protest strongly' after incidents such as the use of sonar by a Chinese warship to deliberately injure Australian navy divers in 2023, backing that action with increased defence expenditure. 'Australia does need to be militarily stronger, with more ships, more planes, more personnel, more drones and more missiles, so that we can be a better ally and stronger friend,' he said. 'If a stronger military is right for China, and for others, it's right for us too. We have to be in a position to be firm, even with a superpower.' Loading Abbott said while retaining its financial and trading links with China, Australia had to broaden its supply chains. China imposed effective bans on Australian goods worth $20 billion under the Morrison government. 'Australia should keep trading; we should keep accepting students, certainly for the humanities; we should keep accepting highly skilled immigrants, and the dependents of Australian citizens,' he said.
