Two weeks after the Coalition fractured, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says a path back to unity could emerge as early as this week, but only if strict conditions are met.
Ley’s comments follow her first face-to-face meeting with Nationals leader David Littleproud on Feb. 3 after the two parties split for the second time in January.
“The Coalition can reform this week, but under certain conditions—and those conditions are overwhelmingly supported by the majority of my party room,” Ley told ABC mornings on Feb. 4.
At the centre of Ley’s proposal is a disciplinary measure aimed at restoring shadow cabinet authority.
Under her offer, the three Nationals senators who crossed the floor to oppose Labor’s hate-speech legislation would remain off the frontbench for six months. The Nationals have not yet formally responded.
Ley confirmed the two leaders are due to meet again on Feb. 4 to continue the discussion. However, she stressed that the shadow cabinet solidarity was non-negotiable.
“That shadow cabinet and the party room have primacy over any individual party room,” she said. “And the three senators do need to face ongoing suspensions.”
Littleproud Says He Won’t Rule Anything In or Out
Littleproud, who also undertook a round of media interviews in the morning, declined to reveal whether his party would accept Ley’s terms.“I’m not going to rule anything in or out,” he said. “I don’t think that’s respectful—not only to my room, but it’s not respectful to the Liberal Party either,” he said.
Littleproud has repeatedly argued that the Nationals were denied a proper party-room process before the hate-speech bill.
He also said the Nationals should not be treated as subordinate partners.
“We’re not a faction of the Liberal Party—we’re the National Party,” he said.
“The Coalition is not one party. There’s this cultural mindset in Canberra, and particularly in some of the commentary, that we should be subservient, that we shouldn’t have our views.”
The Coalition split has occurred amid growing electoral pressure from the conservative-leaning One Nation, which is gaining significant ground in the polls.
Ley Brushes Off Leadership Noise
While Ley attempts to steady the Coalition relationship, she is also fending off renewed speculation about her own leadership.Attention has turned again to Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor, whom Ley narrowly defeated for the leadership last year.
The issue regained momentum after the split as footage showed Taylor attended a private meeting with the right faction’s Andrew Hastie and Jonathan Duniam in Melbourne.
However, Ley dismissed the speculation as unfounded.
“These are ridiculous suggestions,” she said. “They’re made by people in the media. They are not the conversations I’m having with colleagues, and they’re not the focus of my team.”
Asked whether she had spoken to Taylor since, Ley said they had discussed interest rates and broader economic pressures.
“Angus is part of my leadership group, part of my shadow cabinet,” she said.
Coalition Criticises Labor After Interest Rate Hike
Both Ley and Littleproud have tried to push back focus on the Labor government following the Reserve Bank’s 0.25 percent interest rate increase, which comes after interest rates had been dropping for several months before.Ley said Labor relied on short term taxpayer-funded relief measures, instead of undertaking major cuts to government spending..
She said corporate Australia was now openly calling for a $50 billion (US$35 billion) reduction in government expenditure.
