Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is facing increasing pressure to drop the Liberal Party’s pledge to net zero as she fights to hold the Coalition together and fight off looming threats to her leadership.
Top conservative members of Ley’s leadership team – led by Angus Taylor, Michaelia Cash and James Paterson – shifted their stance on the 2050 pledge after a dramatic few days in which the Nationals cast the target aside and Ley was hit with record-low polling.
The Nationals’ move convinced senior Liberals, including some of Ley’s backers, to dump the net zero target, as this masthead first reported on Monday.
In a crisis meeting on Monday morning, Ley’s top lieutenants in the right faction argued the net zero tagline had become too toxic to retain in any form, according to sources familiar with the talks not authorised to speak publicly. Only one of the eight party leaders, moderate leader Anne Ruston, advocated for keeping net zero.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
A grim Newspoll published in The Australian on Monday showed the Coalition primary vote at a record low of 24 per cent and sparked private conversations about the leadership prospects of her deputy, Ted O’Brien, and right-wing challengers Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie.
Taylor would be most likely to take over if Ley’s position became unsustainable this year, according to sources in both factions.
Hastie is viewed as a more likely contender if there was a leadership challenge next year after he has spent some time developing his support base and policy agenda. Sources close to Hastie not authorised to speak publicly said that despite wanting to spend more time with family, he was increasingly determined to run for the leadership as early as next year.
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