
WAFL 2025: Claremont thrash Subiaco by 87 points to reclaim second spot in dominant fashion
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The West Australian
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Sussan Ley to go bush for second WA visit in a fortnight

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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Liberal leader Sussan Ley speaks out about mum's death as parliament fight looms
Opposition leader Sussan Ley has spoken out about the death of her mother just days after taking the reigns of the Liberal Party, admitting she wished she'd had more time. Ms Ley's mother, 93-year-old Angela Braybrooks, died just days after she became the party's first female leader and shortly before the short-lived split in the Coalition. She described it as a 'stressful' time, 'because in the back of your mind you know you'd really rather be sitting quietly with your mum instead of dealing with these issues'. 'But, you know, the world of politics waits for no one and she understood that. So, um, yeah, the timing wasn't great,' Ms Ley told 60 Minutes' Tara Brown. Asked if she felt like she'd had enough time with her late mother, Ms Ley said: 'I think that when I look at those last days, maybe not. 'But, I was there for those important moments, you know, to tell her what I needed to say and I think to basically say thank you.' Ms Ley is making a desperate pitch to voters on the future of the Liberal Party followings its bruising loss at the last federal election. Chief among those the new Liberal leader is hoping to court is women, a key democratic who Liberal critics say the party's policies have let down. Ms Ley has repeatedly described herself as a 'zealot' for getting more women into the party, but 'agnostic' about how amid controversy over calls for gender quotas. Nonetheless, the number of women in Ms Ley's shadow ministry were reduced by four after she took the reigns earlier this year. 'Forty-per cent of my shadow ministry is made of women. I think it is important for a female leader to make this a priority as I have,' she said. Asked about the reshuffle, Ms Ley said: 'I do want to say with respect to positions in or out of that shadow ministry, everyone can't be included. 'That's just a mathematical fact. But everyone is included in the important work we have to do as a team.' Ms Ley has a significant task in-front of her following the Liberal Party's devastating loss. 'I do have a sense of hope and optimism for the task ahead,' she said. 'But, I don't step back one bit from the size of that task because we did not do well at the last election, we were smashed in metro seats. 'We need to go back to the Australian people with humility and honesty, and we need to listen.' Ms Ley rejected suggestions the leadership was a 'poisoned chalice', stating: 'I put my hand up. I want this job. I know I'm the best person at this point in time.'

News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Core support for the Coalition collapses to 40-year low: Newspoll
Core support for the Coalition has fallen to the lowest point in 40 years following Labor's blistering victory at the 2025 federal election. In the first Newspoll by The Australian since May's ballot, primary vote for the Coalition fell from 31.8 per cent at the election to just 29 per cent. Labor had meanwhile extended its two-party preferred lead, from 55.2 per cent at the election to 57 per cent, while the primary vote sat at 37 per cent. The result for the Liberal/Nationals coalition is worst primary vote since Newspoll first compared primary vote levels across the federal parties in November 1985. It also marks an 11-point decrease for the Coalition since its most recent peak of 40 per cent just eight months earlier. As for the Prime Minister, some 47 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with his performance – an equal number, 47 per cent, said they were not. For the new Opposition leader, Sussan Ley received approval ratings consistent with newly-elected opposition leaders, with 35 per cent. Ms Ley trailed behind Mr Albanese on preferred prime minister, with the Labor leader sitting at 52 per cent and Ms Ley at 32 per cent. She did, though, outpace her predecessor, Peter Dutton, who returned just 25 per cent of the preferred prime minister vote after his first outing as Liberal leader.

News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Sussan Ley's Liberal Party records historically bad result in first Newspoll since election
The latest Newspoll shows the Coalition's support has fallen to a four-decade low, as Anthony Albanese's Labor Party continues to enjoy a post-election bounce. The survey, conducted on behalf of The Australian, has Labor in a strong position despite the Prime Minister's weak approval rating. It's the first such poll since the election in May. At that election earlier this year, the two-party preferred vote ended at 55 per cent for Labor and 49 per cent for the Coalition, which yielded 94 Labor seats and a mere 43 for the official opposition. That gap in the two-party preferred measure has now expanded to 57-43. Of particular concern for the Coalition is its primary vote, which now stands at 29 per cent, even lower than its worst ever mark at an election. It recorded a primary vote of 32 per cent when Australians voted in May. Mr Albanese's approval rating is still slightly underwater, with 47 per cent of voters approving of his performance. Liberal leader Sussan Ley has an approval rating of 35 per cent, though more than a fifth of voters have yet to form a firm opinion of her. According to The Australian, no lower primary vote result has been recorded for the combined Liberal and National vote since Newspoll started recording the relevant data in 1985. Parliament is set to resume at last this week, for the first time since the election. Ahead of that landmark in her new role as Leader of the Opposition, Ms Ley was interviewed by The Australian Women's Weekly earlier this month. Most notably, during the interview she recalled an encounter with a stranger during a drive from Sydney to the town Thargomindah, in rural Queensland. 'The person lifted the visor on their helmet and said, 'Ah, you're here all by yourself, are you?'' she recounted. The man had arrived on a motorbike. Ms Ley, on alert, pulled out a semiautomatic rifle, which had been purchased legally. 'I'm here with my tall skinny mate,' she said. At which point the man drove away, while Ms Ley was left with her 'heart pounding'. Meanwhile a senior Labor minister has hit back at the opposition for criticising Mr Albanese's lengthy state visit to China, saying the relationship with Australia's biggest trading partner had 'broken down' on the Coalition's watch. The Prime Minister spent much of the last week touting Australia's tourism, trade and research offerings in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu as part of a five-day business and diplomatic blitz. But the opposition has argued the trip did not produce any tangible outcomes, despite several agreements being signed. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said on Sunday she found the 'criticism quite extraordinary considering that since we came to government we have removed some $20 billion of trade impediments with China'. China imposed trade restrictions during a trade war with the Morrison government. 'We now have in everything from wine to lobster, not to mention the fact that China is our single biggest trading partner,' Ms Rowland told Sky News. 'Our resources sector relies on that relationship.' She noted that Mr Albanese's visit was 'at the invitation … of China'. 'He went with a significant business delegation,' Ms Rowland. 'This is about creating jobs and extra trade opportunities for Australia, and it's important that we maintain this vital relationship.'