Updated ,first published
Liberal leadership hopeful Angus Taylor has endorsed the Coalition reunion as his allies weigh a move against Opposition Leader Sussan Ley this week with a woman as Taylor’s running mate.
Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud backed down on Sunday from previously hardline stances as they revived the Liberal-National alliance after a bitter 17-day split that exposed the pair’s antagonistic relationship and clashes over policy.
As first reported by this masthead on Saturday, Littleproud agreed to a six-week suspension for rebel Nationals who crossed the floor over hate crimes laws introduced last month following the Bondi terror attack. Ley watered down the suspension from six months.
The Liberal leader signalled she would quickly move to fight off One Nation and consolidate the centre-right with a plan to cut migration as she tried to project confidence she could cling on to power.
“I am very confident of the overwhelming support of my party room,” she said on Sunday. “They elected me nine months ago to lead. I said then I was up for the job.”
Liberal MPs who wanted distance from the Nationals were frustrated by Ley’s decision to make a deal after Littleproud blew up the Coalition in January, defying the Liberal position on hate crimes and setting off the crisis.
Taylor’s backers had been pushing Ley to reunite the parties, but on Sunday cast the truce as fragile and argued another set of dire polls could convince them to launch a leadership tilt as soon as this week. Some fear Taylor would look indecisive if he waited until March to run.
“I’m happy the Coalition is back together,” Taylor said on Sunday afternoon. He declined to comment on the party leadership days after he made clear in a 2GB interview on Friday that he would let Ley know if he lost faith in her, triggering a likely resignation from shadow cabinet.
Littleproud, meanwhile, said a new written agreement spelling out party disputes over policies would avoid the political divisions and ugly public stoushes between the leaders that dominated headlines for almost three weeks.
“The level of maturity we’ve been able to show to get to this level is important because I think we future-proof the Coalition into ensuring that we get the best outcomes,” Littleproud said, even as he failed to deny a hostile phone-call in which he called on Ley to resign in January.
The Nationals leader said on January 22 that his MPs “cannot be part of a shadow ministry under Sussan Ley”. His U-turn was sparked by stern conversations with allies in which they urged him to get a deal done, with leadership rivals circling, including outspoken senator Matt Canavan, who had already tried to unseat Littleproud last May.
Poor Liberal Party polling continues to fuel leadership speculation, but Ley believes she will not be challenged this week as senators conduct estimates committee sessions, taking them away from normal party meetings.
“She thinks she’s got momentum after the reformation of the Coalition,” one of her allies said.
Countering that confidence, Ley’s backers are less bullish in private talks with other MPs, arguing she deserves more time in the job rather than emphasising her credentials as the right leader for the times.
The reunification might add momentum to the case for change because it means Taylor will not be seen to be giving in to Littleproud. Also working in Taylor’s favour is that Ley is now unable to offer half-a-dozen new frontbench positions and pay rises to Liberal backbenchers as was planned if she were appointing a Liberal-only shadow cabinet.
But Taylor’s camp is wary of appearing opportunistic if it moves to topple Ley so soon after she repaired a schism that could have consolidated Labor gains for years. And several MPs are unconvinced by claims that Taylor has secured majority support to force a spill.
Former prime minister John Howard, one of many party elders who pushed the leaders to sort it out, said Ley must turn her focus to immigration.
“I congratulate Sussan Ley and David Littleproud for having restored the Coalition,” he said. “Decades have told us that a strong coalition between our two parties delivers good outcomes for the Australian people. The next challenge for the parties is the enunciation of clear policies. One of these must be that of immigration.”
The Coalition is reformed immediately, with Littleproud and deputy Kevin Hogan sitting in the shadow cabinet from this week. In his offer to Ley on Friday, Littleproud wanted the Coalition to formally reunite in March, just as the rebel senators finished their suspensions. The delay would have allowed the Nationals to spend the next week in parliament pushing their own policies and undermining Ley, heightening the risk of a leadership ballot in the Liberal Party.
If Taylor’s camp does not force a spill in Tuesday’s party room meeting, his backers could call for a ballot later in the week.
Taylor is aware that the party’s poor reception from women voters might be damaged further if he moves on Ley, the party’s first female leader.
His supporters are mulling several options – including Victorian senator Jane Hume, communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh and shadow cabinet secretary Zoe McKenzie – to run as his deputy if he were to create a joint ticket. Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie are also in the running, with Wilson viewed as a possible shadow treasurer and Hastie believed to be open to less-high-profile portfolios such as finance or industry.
Leader-deputy joint tickets are common in Liberal Party history and Taylor’s call to run with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price backfired in May when he lost to Ley.
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