Ley breaks silence after Coalition split
Liberal leader Sussan Ley has made her first public comments on the Coalition split, saying she won’t give into demands from the Nationals â led by Queensland’s David Littleproud.
Liberal leader Sussan Ley has left the door open to reconciling with the Nationals as the regional party demands she stand down.
Nationals leader David Littleproud on Thursday broke up the Coalition for a second time since the 2025 federal election, accusing Ley of bringing the political alliance to an âuntenable positionâ.
The Opposition Leader shunned media interviews on Thursday out of respect for the victims for the Bondi terror attack, as Australia marked a national day of mourning.
On Friday morning, she spoke out for the first time, vowing she would survive in her role.
âIâm backed by my Liberal Party and the decisions that Iâve made to date,â she told Sevenâs Sunrise.
Ley also said âthe door is not closedâ to the Coalitionâs reunification, though insisting âmy eye is not on the doorâ.
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She did not deny media reporting when asked to confirm if Littleproud unleashed on her in a phone call on Thursday morning. He is reported to have demanded she immediately reinstate three senators from his party who resigned over hate crime laws.
Insiders from both parties believe this split will last much longer than the previous week-long rupture, which followed Laborâs landslide election victory last May.
Firebrand conservative senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who moved from the Nationals party room to the Liberals after the election, has previously said she does not have confidence in Leyâs leadership.
âI made it very clear that obviously the leader had lost trust in me, lost faith in me, and I suppose I felt the same at the time,â she told Sky News on Thursday night.
âI donât feel like things have improved.â
Liberals are preparing for a challenge to Leyâs leadership. It is likely when parliament returns a fortnight, although exact details on timing have not been locked in.
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Conservatives Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie are seen as Leyâs most likely successors.
But one Liberal source described Hastie as âOne Nation-liteâ, warning his brand of fiery conservative politics would do little to win over new voters.
Taylor also carries baggage from his time as shadow treasurer, with some Liberals claiming he did not do enough to develop economic policy ahead of the 2025 federal election.
Rumours are also swirling of a possible challenge to Littleproud.
Former Nationals frontbencher Susan McDonald insisted Littleproudâs position was safe at the moment, and said she hoped the Coalition partners could rejoin forces quickly. But she warned the reunion would not happen straight away.
âIâm very optimistic that the Coalition will get back together at some point, because we know that united, we are stronger,â she said.
âHowever, at the moment, circumstances are that I think that is unlikely in the near term.â
On Wednesday night, the entire Nationals frontbench tendered their resignations.
Littleproud said he was preparing a new front bench made up of only Nationals members, in a sign the split might last for some time.
-with AAP
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