The Sauce: Opposition Leader Sussan Ley hires ex-MP Dr Peter Phelps

A political staffer and former MP who once described his Liberal colleagues as ‘feckless, lazy, blancmanges’ has joined the staff of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

A former Perrottet government staffer and politician who castigated his then Liberal colleagues for being “feckless, lazy, blancmanges” after the NSW Coalition lost the state election has joined the office of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

The Sauce can reveal the outspoken Dr Peter Phelps – who, like Ley, is a qualified pilot – will fill a political research role in Ley’s beefed-up office.

Phelps – a former chief-of-staff in the Howard government – is known for his brutal character assessments, such as his post-March 2023 outburst in parliament prompted by Liberal MPs declaring it was “great to be back”.

Phelps wiped the smiles off their faces after reminding them that they had “lost”, before advising they should be “quietly crawling back to your own vomit with your tail between your legs” or “telling us about how you’re going to smash Labor. Nothing else”.

“It’s not like you’re back at school for year 10 after the summer break.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Dr Peter Phelps in parliament in 2015. Picture: Daniel Aarons

Alas, Phelps, who has also been a prolific social media commentator, appears to have deactivated his X account as he bunkers down in his new, less public role.

Other new Ley hires include former Australian Gas Infrastructure Group corporate affairs manager Shari Lapthorne, who has taken on a senior policy adviser role.

Lapthorne, who has previously advised Peter Dutton and Queensland MP Ted O’Brien, will lead the Coalition work in the energy and emissions reduction portfolios.

Former Michaela Cash and Steven Ciobo staffer Karly Abbott has also been taken on by Ley as a policy adviser, with industrial relations, small business, industry and infrastructure to be her focus.

Long-term Ley staffer Liam Jones will lead engagement with the Canberra press gallery, while fellow staffer Dom Bondar, who has also worked for NSW Liberal minister David Elliott, will head up political strategy and parliamentary colleague engagement.

The whole show will be overseen by Ley’s most trusted confidant – chief-of-staff Dean Shachar – who, at 30, already has worked for a prime minister, deputy and several senior ministers.

BUCK PASS

Forget fare evasion, it was a case of answer evasion when the state Opposition’s information fighter Matt Cross tried to sniff out the latest government figures on the number of people it had fined for failing to buy a ticket.

Matt Cross gets the run around trying to find out how many people have been fined for fare evasion. Picture: Matrix Media

After firing off his questions to Transport Minister John Graham via Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison, who represents Graham in the Lower House where Cross is, Cross was instructed to direct his questions to Finance Minister Courtney Houssos.

“This is a matter for the Minister For Finance,” Aitchison wrote.

But when Cross fired off questions to Houssos, via Attorney-General Michael Daley who is the Lower House, he was instructed to direct his question to Transport Minister John Graham.

Airing his frustrations with The Sauce this week, Cross declared: “Ministers evading responsibility clearly move faster than the trains.”

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Originally published as The Sauce: Opposition Leader Sussan Ley hires ex-MP Dr Peter Phelps